REST    DAYS 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

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THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


REST  DAYS 


A  Study   in   Early   Law  and  Morality 


BY 

HUTTON    WEBSTER,    PH.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  SOCIAL  ANTHROPOLOGY  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  NEBRASKA 
AUTHOR  OF  "PRIMITIVE  SECRET  SOCIETIES" 


"  The  study  of  their  own  species  is  doubtless  the  most  interesting 
and  important  that  can  claim  the  attention  of  mankind;  and  this 
science,  like  all  others,  it  is  impossible  to  improve  by  abstract 
speculation,  merely.  A  regular  series  of  authenticated  facts  is 
what  alone  can  enable  us  to  rise  towards  a  perfect  knowledge  in  it." 
—  WILLIAM  MARSDEN,  The  History  of  Sumatra,  London,  1811,  Preface. 


gorfc 
THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

1916 

All  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1916, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  printed.    Published  May,  1916. 


Norfcoooti 

J.  8.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


Co 
MY  WIFE 


PREFACE 

WHAT  perhaps  might  be  described  as  the  first  edition  of 
this  work  appeared  in  1911  in  the  University  Studies  of  the 
University  of  Nebraska.  The  title  of  the  original  mono- 
graph has  been  retained  for  the  present  volume,  in  which 
the  same  line  of  argument  is  followed  and  the  same  conclu- 
sions are  reached.  After  a  lapse  of  nearly  five  years  I  have 
not  felt  the  necessity  of  modifying,  to  any  essential  degree, 
the  results  of  the  earlier  investigation.  The  book,  then, 
differs  from  its  predecessor  chiefly  in  providing  a  more 
extensive  collection  of  the  relevant  data. 

Although  much  has  been  written  on  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
and  the  Christian  Sunday,  and  on  the  assumed  Babylonian 
prototype  of  these  institutions,  little  inquiry  has  hitherto 
been  made  into  the  rest  days  so  commonly  observed  out- 
side the  Semitic  area  in  antiquity  and  later  ages.  The  prin- 
cipal reason  for  this  neglect  of  the  comparative  aspects  of 
the  subject  must  doubtless  be  found  in  the  still  imperfect 
appreciation  of  the  fact  that  the  great  institutions  of  modern 
civilization  have  their  roots  in  the  beliefs  and  customs,  and 
often  in  the  superstitions,  of  savage  and  barbarian  society. 
It  will  be  the  task  of  social  anthropology,  by  an  impressive 
accumulation  of  evidence,  to  make  this  truth  a  commonplace 
of  popular  knowledge. 

Among  the  friends  and  correspondents  who  have  aided 
me  by  criticisms  and  suggestions  I  wish  particularly  to  men- 
tion Dr.  Crawford  H.  Toy,  now  Professor  Emeritus  in 
Harvard  University,  and  Dr.  Louis  H.  Gray,  now  Assist- 
ant Editor  of  Hastings's  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics. 
Mr.  G.  D.  Swezey,  Professor  of  Astronomy  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Nebraska,  was  good  enough  to  help  me  in  some 
troublesome  details  relating  to  the  calendar.  The  late 
Walter  Kendall  Jewett,  formerly  University  Librarian,  and 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


the  kindest  and  most  genial  of  men,  put  at  my  disposal 
many  books  which  otherwise  would  have  been  difficult  of 
access.  To  my  honoured  colleague.  Professor  George 
Elliott  Howard,  I  owe  the  inspiration,  reaching  back  to 
undergraduate  days,  which  comes  from  association  with  one 
whose  devotion  to  scholarly  ideals  is  matched  only  by  his 
enthusiasm  for  social  service.  Finally,  I  must  acknowledge 
my  obligation  to  Chancellor  Samuel  Avery,  whose  interest 
in  the  book  has  made  possible  its  publication  at  this  time. 


HUTTON  WEBSTER. 


LINCOLN,  NEBRASKA, 
February,  1916. 


ERRATA 

Page  80,  note  2,  read:   p.  156;  Macrobius,  Satur- 
Page  92,  note,  read:    avov  euro  )(\a)pov  rd^veiv  & 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION 

Observance  of  days  of  abstinence  and  quiescence  not  unknown  in  the  lower 
culture,  p.  i .  —  Probable  origin  of  the  Sabbatarian  regulations  in  primi- 
tive taboos,  pp.  1,2.  —  Tabu  in  Polynesia  and  equivalent  customs  in 
other  parts  of  the  world,  pp.  2,  3.  —  Classification  of  taboos,  p.  4.  — 
Characteristics  of  taboos,  pp.  4,  5.  — Their  animistic  sanctions,  pp.  5, 
6.  —  Reasons  for  imposing  taboos  which  necessitate  abstinence  and  qui- 
escence, pp.  6,  7.  —  Connection  of  communal  taboos  with  those  observed 
by  individuals,  p.  7. 

CHAPTER   I 
TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS 

The  institution  of  taboo  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  pp.  8,  9.  —  Observance 
there  of  tabooed  days,  pp.  9,  I  o.  —  Likeness  between  the  Hawaiian 
Sabbaths  and  the  Sabbatarian  regulations  introduced  by  missionaries,  p.  I  o. 
—  Communal  taboos  imposed  when  a  chief  temple  was  consecrated, 
pp.  11-13;  at  the  time  of  the  celebration  of  the  New  Year's  festival, 
p.  13  ;  and  in  connection  with  the  taking  of  certain  fish,  p.  14.  —  The 
four  regular  tabu  periods  in  the  Hawaiian  month,  pp.  14,  15. — Ta- 
booed days  observed  in  the  Society  Islands,  the  Marquesas  Islands,  and 
New  Zealand,  pp.  15—17. — In  the  Tonga  Islands  a  period  of  taboo 
imposed  at  the  time  of  the  first-fruits'  sacrifice,  pp.  1 8,  19.  —  Days  kept 
sacred  to  certain  gods  in  Samoa  and  other  parts  of  Polynesia,  pp.  1 9-2 1 . 
-Tabooed  days  of  the  Fijians,  pp.  21-24. — Other  instances  of  cojor 
munal  rest  days  in  Polynesia,  pp.  24,  25.  — General  significance  of  the 
Polynesian  evidence,  p.  25. — Tabooed  days  not  unknown  in  New 
Guinea,  p.  26.  — Tabooed  days  in  Borneo,  pp.  26,  27.  — Those  ob- 
served by  the  Kay  an  of  Sarawak  and  Dutch  Borneo,  pp.  27-33  >  ^7  ^e 
Iban  or  Sea  Dyak,  pp.  33-35  ;  and  by  the  Land  Dyak,  pp.  36,  37.  — 
General  significance  of  the  Bornean  evidence,  pp.  37-39.  —  Observance 
of  seasons  of  communal  repose  confined  to  the  Indonesian  population  of 
Borneo,  pp.  39,  40. — Tabooed  days  in  the  Nicobar  Islands,  pp.  40, 


x  CONTENTS 

41  ;  in  Bali  and  Nias,  pp.  41-43  ;  in  the  Mentawi  Islands,  pp.  43, 
44  ;  in  Formosa,  p.  44  ;  and  in  the  Philippine  Archipelago,  pp.  44— 
49.  — The  genna  among  the  Naga  tribes  of  Manipur,  pp.  49-53.  — 
Genna  customs  among  other  peoples  of  Assam,  pp.  53—55.  —  Customs 
allied  to  the  genna  in  Burma,  pp.  55-58.  — Indo-China  probably  the 
centre  of  diffusion  of  the  genna9  p.  58.  —  Resemblance  of  communal 
rest  days  to  the  practice  of  the  couvade,  pp.  58,  59.  —  Psychological 
and  sociological  aspects  of  these  communal  regulations,  pp.  59,  60. — 
Days  of  abstinence  and  quiescence  mark  crises  in  the  community  life, 
pp.  60,  61. 

CHAPTER   II 
TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH  AND  ON  RELATED  OCCASIONS 

Prohibition  of  work  and  other  forms  of  activity  a  common  regulation  following 
a  death,  p.  62.  — The  animistic  explanation  of  this  taboo,  pp.  62,  63. 
—  Belief  in  the  pollution  of  death,  p.  63. — Many  instances  of  com- 
munal taboos  imposing  abstinence  and  quiescence  to  be  found  among 
semi-civilized  peoples  in  various  parts  of  the  world  :  in  the  East  Indian 
Archipelago,  pp.  63,  64;  among  the  tribes  of  Borneo,  p.  65;  in 
Assam,  pp.  65,  66  ;  in  India  and  Tibet,  pp.  66,  67  ;  throughout 
Africa,  pp.  67-70  ;  in  Madagascar,  p.  70  ;  in  North  America,  es- 
pecially among  the  Eskimo,  pp.  70—73  ;  and  among  some  Siberian 
tribes,  pp.  73,  74.  —  Survivals  of  such  taboos  in  the  funeral  observances 
of  civilized  peoples,  p.  74.  — Similar  regulations  imposed  in  connection 
with  feasts  of  the  dead  and  ceremonies  of  demon-expulsion,  pp.  74,  75. 

—  The  evidence  from  Africa,  pp.  75—78.  —  Unlucky  days  observed  by 
the  Athenians  in  connection  with  the  festivals  of  the  Genesia  and  the 
Anthesteria,  pp.  79,  80.  —  Unlucky  days  observed  by  the  Romans  in 
connection  with  the  festivals  of  the  Parentalia  and  the  Lemuria,  pp.  80, 
81. — The  Hebrew  Day  of  Atonement,  pp.  81-83. — The  Feast  of 
Sacrifices  in  Islam,  p.  83.  —  World- wide  diffusion  of  the  custom  of 
observing  tabooed  days  after  a  death  and  on  related  occasions,  p.  84. 

CHAPTER   III 
HOLY  DAYS 

Characteristics  of  religious  festivals,  p.  85.  — Festival  times  often  marked  by 
cessation  of  labour,  pp.  85,  86.  —  Origin  of  the  conception  of  a  "  holy  " 
day,  pp.  86,  87.  —  Consecration  of  holy  days  to  particular  divinities, 
pp.  87,  88.  — Connection  between  tabooed  days  and  holy  days,  p.  88. 

—  The  taboo  element  in  the  festivals  observed  by  Dravidian  peoples  of 


CONTENTS  xi 

India,  pp.  88-90.  — The  Hebrew  Day  of  First-fruits,  pp.  90,  91.  — 
Greek  holy  days,  p.  91.  —  The  Athenian  Plynteria,  pp.  92,  93, — 
The  Roman  Vestalia,  pp.  93,  94. — Ferial  days  of  the  Romans  as 
tabooed  days,  pp.  94-100. 

CHAPTER   IV 

MARKET  DAYS 

The  observance  of  periodic  rest  days  confined  to  agricultural  peoples,  pp.  101, 
1 02.  —  Connection  of  these  days  with  the  institution  of  the  market, 
pp.  1 02,  103. — The  evidence  for  market  weeks  and  market  days  in 
various  parts  of  the  world  :  in  New  Guinea  and  Melanesia,  pp.  103, 
1 04 ;  in  Celebes,  Sumatra,  Java,  and  the  Malay  Peninsula,  pp.  1 04, 
105  ;  in  Tonkin,  Siam,  and  Assam,  pp.  105,  106  ;  throughout  the 
central  parts  of  Africa,  pp.  106-108  ;  among  the  Congo  negroes, 
pp.  109,  no;  and  among  the  Guinea  negroes,  pp.  110-117. — 
Origin  of  the  market  week  in  Africa,  pp.  117,  118. — Sabbatarian 
features  of  the  west  African  market  day,  p.  118.  —  Market  weeks  and 
market  days  in  ancient  Mexico  and  Peru,  pp.  118—120.  — The  Roman 
nundinal  day,  pp.  120-123. 

CHAPTER   V 
LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND  FESTIVALS 

Great  importance  assigned  to  the  moon  by  primitive  peoples,  pp.  124,  125. 
-  The  lunar  rays  often  believed  to  be  deleterious  to  both  children  and 
adults,  pp.  125—127.  — The  moon  supposed  to  cause  menstruation  and 
impregnation,  pp.  127-130. — Influence  of  the  moon  on  the  tides, 
p.  130. — Belief  that  the  moon  affects  the  growth  of  vegetation, 
pp.  130,  131.  —  Doctrine  of  lunar  sympathy,  p.  131.  —  The  waxing 
moon  commonly  regarded  as  favourable,  the  waning  moon  as  unfavour- 
able, for  business  of  various  sorts,  pp.  131-134.  —  Lunar  eclipses 
sometimes  marked  by  a  general  suspension  of  activity,  pp.  134,  135.  — 
The  inter lunium  often  observed  by  a  cessation  of  labour,  pp.  136—140. 

—  Ceremonies  performed  at  new  moon,   pp.    140-142. — Seasons  of 
abstinence  and  restriction  at  new  moon  and  full  moon,  p.  143. — Tabooed 
days  in  connection  with  the  lunar  changes  found  among  the  Bantu  peoples 
of  Africa,  pp.   144-148. — Lunar  taboos  in  modern  India,  pp.  148, 
149.  — The  upavasatha  of  the  Aryans  of  ancient  India,  pp.  149-1  5 1. 

—  Sabbatarian  observance  of  lunar  days  in  post-Vedic  times,  pp.  15*— 
154.  —  The  posaha  of  Jainism,  pp.   154,  155. — The  Buddhist  Sab- 
bath, or  uposatha,  pp.   155-158. — Introduction  of  the  uposatha  into 


xii  CONTENTS 

Ceylon,  Burma,  Siam,  and  Cambodia,  pp.  158-162. — The  Buddhist 
Sabbath  in  Tibet,  Mongolia,  China,  and  Japan,  pp.  162-164. — 
Lunar  days  observed  in  Indonesia,  pp.  164,  165.  —  Lunar  festivals  of 
the  ancient  Iranians,  pp.  165,  166.  — Lunar  festivals  in  ancient  Egypt, 
pp.  166-169. — The  Greek  Noumenia  and  Dichomenia,  pp.  169, 
1 70.  —  The  Roman  Kalends,  Nones,  and  Ides,  p.  1 70.  —  The  dies 
postriduani,  pp.  1 70,  171.  —  Lunar  festivals  in  heathen  Europe,  p.  172. 


CHAPTER    VI 

LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK 

Beginnings  of  the  calendar,  p.  173. — The  moon  as  the  measure  of  time, 
pp.  173-175.  — Popular  calendars  based  on  the  moon,  pp.  175,  176. 
The  lunar  year,  pp.  176,  177.  — Adjustment  of  the  lunar  year  to  the 
solar  year,  pp.  177,  178.  —  Calendarizing  of  the  lunation,  p.  178.  — 
Commencement  of  the  lunar  month,  pp.    178,   179.  —  Phases  of  the 
moon   often  named   and  used  for  time-reckonings,  pp.    180-182.— 
Bipartite  division  of  the  lunation,  pp.  182-186.  — Shorter  divisions  of 
the   lunation,  pp.    187,    188. — The   decade,  pp.    188-192. — The 
ennead,  pp.  192,  193. — The  octad,  pp.  193,  194. — Six-day  weeks, 
p.  194. — The  pentad,  pp.  194-196. — The  hebdomad,  pp.  196,  197. 

—  Diffusion   of  the  hebdomadal  cycle:  in  Africa,   pp.    197-199;    in 
India,  pp.    199-201  ;    in   southeastern  Asia,  p.    201  ;    in  China  and 
Japan,  pp.    202—204 ;    and   in  the    Malay  Peninsula  and   the    Malay 
Archipelago,  pp.  204,  205.  — The  Arabic  week  and  the  Mohammedan 
Sabbath,  pp.  205,  206.  —  Mystic  numbers  in  general,  pp.  206-208. 

—  Seven  as  a  mystic  number  among  semi-civilized  peoples,  pp.  208— 
211.  —  Symbolism  of  seven  in  ancient  India,  Greece,  and  Babylonia, 
pp.  2 1 1-2 1  2.  — The  seven  planets  and  planetary  deities  of  the  Baby- 
lonians,   pp.    213-215. — The    planetary    week,    pp.    215,    216. — 
Theories  of  its  origin,  pp.  216-218.  — Spread  of  the  planetary  week  in 
the  Roman  Empire,  pp.  218,  219.  — Adoption  of  the  planetary  desig- 
nations of  the  weekdays  by  the  Christians,  pp.  220,  221 .  —  Spread  of  the 
planetary  week  among  Romance,  Germanic,  and  Slavic  peoples  during 
the  early  Middle  Ages,  pp.  221,  222. 

CHAPTER    VII 
THE  BABYLONIAN   "  EVIL  DAYS*'   AND  THE  SHABATTUM 

The  "evil  days"  of  the  months  of  Elul  II  and  Markheshwan,  pp.  223, 
224.  —  Possible  explanations  of  the  origin  of  these  days,  pp.  224,  225. 


CONTENTS  xiii 

—  The  Babylonian  lunar  month,  p.  226. — Determination  of  the  be- 
ginning of  the  month,  pp.   226,   227. — Adjustment  of  septenary  di- 
visions   to    the   lunation,    pp.    227,    228. — Association    of   septenary 
divisions  with  successive  phases  of  the  moon,  pp.   228,   229.  — The 
seven-day  cycles  in  Babylonia  not  true  "weeks/'  pp.    229,   230. — 
Special   significance   attached  to  the   seventh   day,   pp.    230,    231. — 
Taboo  in  Babylonia,  pp.    231,   232. — Prohibitions  observed  on  the 
seventh    day,    p.    232.  — 'Their    connection    with    primitive    taboos, 
pp.  232—234.  —  How  far  the  seventh  day  was  marked  by  a  general 
abstention    from     labour,    pp.     234,     235. — The    term    shabattum, 
pp.  235,  236. — Various  explanations  of  its  meaning,  pp.   236-238. 

—  Shabattum  applied  to  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month,  pp.  238,  239. 

—  Festival  observance  of  new  moon  and  full  moon  by  the  Babylonians, 
pp.  239,  240.  —  Probable  connection  of  the  shabattum  with  the  "evil 
days,"  pp.  240,  241. 


CHAPTER    VIII 
THE  HEBREW  SABBATH 

The  Sabbath  an  ancient  institution,  pp.  242,  243.  — The  theory  of  its  origin 
in  the  worship  of  Saturn  untenable,  pp.  243,  244.  — Connection  of  the 
Sabbath  Day  with  Saturday,  pp.  244,  245. — The  Sabbath,  with  the 
seven-day  week,  not  borrowed  from  Egypt  or  Babylonia,  pp.  245,  246. 

—  Importance  of  the  moon  to  the  early  Hebrews,  pp.   246-248. — 
The  festival  of  the  new  moon,  pp.    248,  249.  —  Observance  of  the 
new-moon  day  by  abstinence  from  work,  pp.  249,  250.  —  Religious 
significance  attached  to  the  day  of  full  moon,  pp.   250,   251. — The 
Sabbath  originally  the  full-moon  day,  p.  251.  —  Early  association  of 
new  moon  and  the  Sabbath,  pp.  251-253.  — The  term  shabbath  later 
applied  to  every  seventh  day  of  the  month,  p.  253.  — Differences  be- 
tween the  Hebrew  seven-day  week  and  the  septenary  cycle  of  the  Baby- 
lonians,  pp.    253,    254. — The   Hebrew  week   probably   at   first   no 
periodic  but  connected  with  the  lunation,  pp.  254,  255.  — Obsolescence 
of  the  new-moon  day  as  a  day  of  rest,  p.  255,  256. — Character  of 
the  Sabbath  in  pre-Exilic  times,  p.  256. — Various  Sabbatarian  regula- 
tions to  be  explained  as  taboos,  pp.  256-262.  — Revival  in  post-Exilic 
times  of  the  austere  significance  attached  to  the  Sabbath,  pp.  262,  263. 

—  Strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath  rest  according  to  the  rules  of  phari- 
saic  Judaism,  pp.  263,  264.  — The  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  gladness  and 
good  cheer,  pp.  264-266.  — Introduction  of  the  Sabbath  into  the  Roman 
world,  pp.    266,   267. — The  Lord's  Day  as  observed  by  the  early 


xiv  CONTENTS 

Christians,  pp.  267,  268. — Their  adoption  of  the  pagan  designation 
Sunday,  p.  268. — Ecclesiastical  recognition  of  Saturday  as  a  holy  day, 
p.  269. — The  Lord's  Day  not  at  first  marked  by  abstinence  from 
labour,  pp.  269,  270.  — Beginning  of  Sunday  legislation,  pp.  270,  271. 


CHAPTER   IX 
UNLUCKY  DAYS 

The  belief  in  unlucky  days  frequently  a  result  of  erroneous  association  of  ideas, 
pp.  272-274. — The  observation  of  natural  phenomena  sometimes 
accounts  for  the  unlucky  character  attached  to  certain  times,  pp.  274, 
275. — The  conception  of  unluckiness  sometimes  deduced  from  the 
assumed  critical  nature  of  certain  periods,  such  as  epagomenal  months 
and  days,  p.  276. — The  Twelve  Days  in  ancient  India,  pp.  276, 
277. — European  folklore  of  the  Twelve  Days,  pp.  277-279. — Un- 
lucky character  of  the  five  supplementary  days  in  the  Mexican  and  Maya 
calendars,  pp.  279-281. — The  five  supplementary  days  among  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  Persians,  and  Armenians,  pp.  281-283. — Epagom- 
enal days  in  the  French  Republican  calendar,  p.  283. — Some  un- 
lucky days  observed  in  southeastern  Europe  probably  derived  from  the 
holy  days  of  classical  antiquity,  pp.  283-285.  —  Likeness  between 
tabooed  days  and  the  unlucky  days  observed  in  southeastern  Asia, 
pp.  285-288.  —  The  Toda  rest  days,  pp.  288-292. — Rest  days  of 
the  Siah  Posh  Kafirs,  pp.  293,  294. — Unlucky  days  among  the  Mal- 
agasy, pp.  294,  295.  — Egyptian  calendars  of  lucky  and  unlucky  days, 
pp.  295-297. — A  Babylonian  calendar,  pp.  297,  298. — The  Hesi- 
odic  calendar,  pp.  298,  299. — Unlucky  days  observed  during  the 
Middle  Ages,  pp.  299-301. — Decline  of  the  superstition  after  the 
Reformation,  p.  301. 


CONCLUSION 

The  observance  of  tabooed  and  unlucky  days  exerts  a  hampering  influence  on 
social  and  economic  progress,  pp.  302,  303. — Non-working  days  in 
Hawaii,  in  Ashanti,  and  among  the  Hopi  Indians  of  Arizona,  p.  303. 
— The  numerous  religious  festivals  held  in  modern  China  and  Korea 
and  in  ancient  Egypt  and  Greece,  pp.  303,  304.  —  Excessive  devel- 
opment of  Roman  festivals,  pp.  304-306.  — Holy  days  in  the  religious 
calendar  of  Christendom,  pp.  306,  307.  —  Passage  of  the  holy  day 
into  the  holiday,  307,  308. 


REST   DAYS 


REST    DAYS 

INTRODUCTION 


2         ;  ^  REST  DAYS 

but  now  known  to  exist  in  many  other  regions  of  the 
aboriginal  world.1 

"Taboo,"  from  the  Polynesian  tabu,  is  one  of  the 
few  words  which  the  languages  of  the  Pacific  have 
contributed  to  our  English  speech.  Tabu  appears  to 
be,  properly,  the  Tonga  term,  tapu,  the  word  as  found 
in  Samoa,  the  Marquesas  Islands,  the  Society  Islands, 
and  New  Zealand,  and  kapu,  the  Hawaiian  expression.2 
The  etymology  of  tapu  is  uncertain,  though  an  attempt 
has  been  made  to  derive  it  from  ta,  to  mark,  and  pu, 
an  adverb  of  intensity.  The  compound  tapu  would 
then  mean  "marked  thoroughly,"  and  would  come  to 
signify  "sacred"  in  a  secondary  sense,  since  sacred 
things  and  places  were  commonly  indicated  in  a  partic- 
ular manner.3  The  word  tapua'i  means  "to  abstain 
from  all  work,  games,  etc."  4  —  a  translation  which  in- 
dicates how  intimately  the  idea  of  abstinence  was 
associated  with  the  notion  of  tapu. 

In  all  the  Polynesian  languages  tapu  or  tabu  appears 
to  have  been  employed  with  an  adjectival  meaning, 
referring  to  something  holy,  sacred,  and  inviolable,  or 
to  something  polluted  and  accursed.  The  word,  we 
learn,  did  not  imply  any  moral  quality,  but  expressed 
"a  connection  with  the  gods,  or  a  separation  from 
ordinary  purposes,  and  exclusive  appropriation  to 
persons  or  things  considered  sacred ;  sometimes  it 
means  devoted  as  by  a  vow."  5  In  a  derivative  sense 

1  For  the  leading  facts  relating  2  A  list  of  the  equivalents  of  tabu 

to  the  institution  of  taboo  see  Sir  in  the  languages  of  Polynesia  and 

J.  G.   Frazer,   "Taboo,"  Encyclo-  Melanesia   will   be  found   in  Wil- 

pcedia    Britannica,*    xxiii,     15-18;  Ham     Churchill,     The    Polynesian 

idem,    Taboo  and  the  Perils  of  the  Wanderings,  Washington,  1911,  pp. 

Soul,     London,     1911;      N.     W.  263^. 

Thomas,    "Taboo,"    Encyclopedia  3  E.    Shortland,    Traditions  and 
Britannic  a,™    xxvi,    337-341;     L.  Superstitions  of  the  New  Zealanders,* 
Marillier,     "Tabou,"     La    grande  London,  1856,  p.  101. 
encyclopedic,  xxx,  848  sq. ;  A.  Bros,  4  E.   Tregear,    The   Maori-Poly- 
La  religion  des  peuples  non-civilises,  nesian  Comparative  Dictionary,  Wei- 
Paris,   1907,  pp.   185-213 ;    C.  H.  lington  (N.Z.),  1891,  p.  472. 
Toy,  Introduction  to  the  History  of  6  William  Ellis,    Polynesian  Re- 
Religions,  Boston,   1913,  pp.  239-  searches,  London,  1859,  iv,  385. 
264. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

tabu  came  naturally  to  signify  " forbidden"  or  "pro- 
hibited";1 and  this  is  the  most  general  meaning  of 
the  word  in  its  anglicized  form.  But  in  anthropological 
usage  the  term  "taboo"  refers,  not  to  all  negative  regu- 
lations or  prohibitions,  but  to  those  only  which  are 
supported  by  a  supernatural  sanction  and  the  viola- 
tion of  which  is  visited  with  a  supernatural  punish- 
ment. 

The  progress  of  comparative  research  has  shown  that 
conceptions  very  similar  to  the  Polynesian  tabu  have  a 
wide  prevalence  in  the  lower  culture  and  even  among 
peoples  of  archaic  civilization.  The  Melanesian  tambu, 
though  never  signifying  any  inherent  holiness  or  awful- 
ness,  does  refer  to  the  sacred  and  unapproachable  char- 
acter which  things  may  possess  when  solemnly  cursed 
in  the  name  of  a  powerful  ghost  or  spirit.2  Among 
the  natives  of  the  Gabun  colony  of  French  Equatorial 
Africa  orunda  meant,  originally,  "prohibited  from  hu- 
man use."  Under  missionary  hands  the  word  de- 
veloped into  its  related  sense  of  "sacred  to  spiritual 
use,"  and  in  the  Mpongwe  Scriptures  orunda  serves 
as  the  translation  of  our  word  "holy."  3  The  Malagasy 
equivalent  of  tabu  is  fady,  which  means,  primarily, 
"dangerous,"  but  which  has  the  derivative  meanings 
sacre,  "prohibited,"  "ill-omened,"  "unlucky."4  An- 
thropologically, it  is  no  far  cry  from  such  expressions 
to  the  Greek  dyios  or  to  the  Latin  sacer,  since  each  of 
these  terms  conveys  the  twin  ideas  of  sanctity  and 
pollution.5 

1  The  proper  term  for  "prohibit"  4  A.     van     Gennep,     Tabou    et 
was  rahui  (ibid.,  iy,  386).                      totemisme     a     Madagascar,     Paris, 

2  R.  H.  Codrington,   The  Mela-       1904,  pp.  12  sqq.,  23. 

nesians,  Oxford,  1891,  p.  215.     In  6  As  Sir  James  Frazer  has  pointed 

the  Banks  Islands  and  in  the  New  out       (Encyclopedia     Britannica,* 

Hebrides   the   word    rongo   is   em-  xxiii,    18),  the  Greeks  usually  dis- 

ployed    to    indicate   the   naturally  criminated    the    two    ideas,    dyvos 

holy   character  which   certain   ob-  being    devoted    to    the    sense    of 

jects  may  possess,  quite  independ-  "sacred**    and    ti/ayi/s   to    that   of 

ently   of  any   human   sanction  or  "unclean'*     or     "accursed.**     The 

prohibition  (ibid.,  p.   181).  two  words,  of  course,  have  no  cbn- 

3  R.    H.    Nassau,    Fetichism    in  nection,  dyvos  being  related  to  Skt. 
West  Africa,  London,  1904,  p.  80.  yaj-,    "sacrifice**     and     evayijs    to 


4  REST  DAYS 

It  is  convenient  to  distinguish  between  taboos  which 
are  artificially  imposed  and  those  which  follow  inev- 
itably as  the  consequence  of  particular  acts  or  as  the 
outcome  of  certain  situations.  Thus,  a  chief  may  set 
a  taboo  over  the  common  crops  until  harvest  time,  or 
a  private  individual  may  protect  his  own  property 
through  the  use  of  the  same  supernatural  machinery : 
these  are  prohibitions  analogous  to  the  laws  of  an  ad- 
vanced society,  though  supported  by  sanctions  both 
human  and  divine.  On  the  other  hand,  new-born 
children  with  their  mothers,  strangers,  manslayers,  and 
mourners  are  frequently  subjected  to  taboos  which 
exist  in  the  social  consciousness  rather  as  well-defined 
customs  of  anonymous  origin  than  as  specific  ordi- 
nances laid  down  by  some  superior  authority.  In 
both  cases,  however,  it  is  legitimate  to  suppose  that  a 
reason  has  always  existed  for  the  ascription  of  the  tabu 
character  to  persons  and  things  —  although  an  explana- 
tion may  not  now  be  forthcoming  and  although  the 
ideas  on  which  the  practice  was  once  based  may  have 
become  obscure  or  meaningless  with  the  lapse  of  time. 

A  comparative  study  of  the  taboos  observed  by  primi- 
tive peoples  indicates  that  originally  things  or  persons 
are  tabooed  because  they  are  considered  dangerous, 
mysterious,  abnormal,  uncanny,  "awful"  -because 
they  are  felt  to  be  potent  for  weal  or  woe  in  the  life  of 
man.  Primitive  psychology,  refining  these  ideas  and 
applying  them  to  different  classes  of  phenomena,  pro- 
duces the  cognate  notions  of  pollution  and  sanctity. 
The  corpse  is  unclean ;  the  shedder  of  human  blood 
is  likewise  unclean  ;  but  the  chief  or  king,  who  belongs 

Skt.    agas-,    "sin"     (E.     Boisacq,  Hebrew  tame  "is  not  the  ordinary 

Dictionnaire     etymologique     de     la  word    for    things    physically    foul; 

langue     'grecque,     Heidelberg     and  it  is  a  ritual  term  and  corresponds 

Paris,   1907,  pt.  i,  7,  9).     Among  exactly  to  the  idea  of  taboo"  (Kin- 

the  Romans  sacer  always  continued  ship  and  Marriage  in  Early  Arabia? 

to  retain  the  double  meaning;    it  London,  1903,  p.  309).     For  a  list 

may  be  closely  rendered  by  tabu.  of  Biblical  passages  containing  tame 

Compare  Servius  on  Vergil,  £neis,  see  Brown,  Driver,  and  Briggs,  A 

iii,    75.     The    late    W.    Robertson  Hebrew  and  English  Lexicon  of  the 

Smith  referred  to  the  fact  that  the  Old  Testament,  Boston,  1906,  p.  379. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

to  a  superior  order  of  beings,  is  sacrosanct  or  holy. 
These  characteristics  are  easily  regarded  as  infectious, 
as  capable  of  transmission,  not  alone  by  physical  con- 
tact, but  also  by  sight  and  mere  proximity.  It  is 
probably  true  that,  in  using  such  expressions  as  "  con- 
tagion" and  "infection,"  we  are  resorting  to  a  refined 
terminology  to  express  what  must  be  really  simpler 
in  the  thought  of  the  savage.  Living  in  a  mental 
stage  where  distinctions  of  cause  and  effect  are  not 
clearly  drawn,  where  a  rigid  distinction  of  the  natural 
and  the  .supernatural  can  scarcely  be  said  to  exist  at 
all,  he  finds  no  difficulty  in  imagining  an  universe  in 
which  all  things  have  power,  after  their  kind,  a  power 
for  good  or  a  power  for  ill --in  other  words,  have 
mana.  This  now-familiar  Melanesian  term,  like  the 
Algonkin  manitou,  the  Iroquoian  orenda,  and  the 
Siouan  wakanda,  may  be  said  to  express  early  man's 
sense  of  those  ever-present,  though  vague  and  imper- 
sonal, forces  immanent  in  nature.1 

At  the  same  time  the  fact  must  be  recognized  that 
the  majority  of  taboos  are  now  supported  by  animistic 
beliefs  of  a  much  more  precise  character.  The  penalty 
for  the  infraction  of  a  taboo  is  generally  death  or  some 
physical  ailment  supposed  to  be  inflicted  by  the  offended 
spirits  or  demons.2  The  Polynesian  atua,  by  entering 
the  body  of  any  impious  person,  caused  disease  or 
"intestinal  embarrassment":  the  culprit  forthwith 
swelled  up  and  died.  The  same  demonic  beings,  if 
angered,  might  visit  entire  tribes  with  an  epidemic, 
or  send  down  lightning  and  fire  from  heaven,  or  bring 
about  the  unsuccessful  issue  of  a  war.3  Among  the 

1  The  notion  of  transmissibility  R.  Marett,  The  Threshold  of  Reli- 

has  been  especially  developed   by  gion,2  London,  1914,  pp.  99-121. 
such  writers  as  A.  E.  Crawley,  The  2  On   the  general   belief  in   the 

Mystic  Rose,  London,  1902,  passim,  omnipresence  of  demons  and  their 

Hubert     and     Mauss,     "Esquisse  action   in  causing   human  ills    see 

d'une  theorie  generale  de  la  magie,"  Sir  J.    G.    Frazer,    The   Scapegoat, 

L'annee  sociologique,  1904,  vii,  108  London,  1913,  pp.  72-108. 
sqq.;    F.  B.    Jevons,  An   Introduc-  3  J.  S.  Polack,  Manners  and  Cus- 

tion    to    the    History    of    Religion,*1  toms  of  the  New  Zealanders,  London, 

London,  1908,  pp.  59-68,  and    R.  1840,  i,  234. 


6  REST  DAYS 

Kayan  and  other  pagan  tribes  of  Borneo  the  minor 
spirits,  or  toh,  play  a  considerable  part  in  the  regula- 
tion of  conduct.  They  are  the  powers  that  bring 
misfortunes  upon  an  entire  house  or  village  when  any 
member  of  it  ignores  taboos  or  otherwise  violates 
tribal  customs,  without  performing  the  propitiatory 
rites  demanded  by  the  occasion.  "Thus  on  them, 
rather  than  on  the  gods,  are  founded  the  effective 
sanctions  of  prohibitive  rules  of  conduct."  1  Among 
the  Akikuyu  of  British  East  Africa,  who  possess  a  most 
elaborate  system  of  taboos,  it  is  a  general  belief  that 
any  one  in  the  condition  of  thahu  becomes  emaciated 
and  ill  or  breaks  out  in  eruptions  and  boils.  If  the 
thahu  is  not  removed,  the  patient  will  die.  "In  many 
cases  this  undoubtedly  happens  by  the  process  of  auto- 
suggestion, as  it  never  occurs  to  the  Kikuyu  mind  to  be 
skeptical  in  a  matter  of  this  kind.  It  is  said  that  the 
thahu  condition  is  caused  by  the  ngoma,  or  spirits  of 
departed  ancestors,  but  the  process  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  analyzed  any  further."  2  The  Babylonians, 
again,  appear  to  have  entertained  very  definite  con- 
ceptions of  taboo,  and  conceptions,  equally  definite, 
of  the  evil  spirits  which  vexed  the  soul  and  body  of 
one  who  had  infringed  a  mamit,  or  prohibition  with  a 
supernatural  penalty.3  With  the  progress  of  religious 
conceptions  the  punishment  of  the  taboo-breaker 
may  come  to  be  regarded  as  an  important  function 
of  the  tribal  or  national  god,  whose  chief  concern  is  the 
maintenance  of  the  customary  moral  rules. 

Since  persons,  objects,  and  even  actions  are  all 
liable  to  infection,  prudence  dictates  a  variety  of  pre- 
cautions :  the  dangerous  individual  or  thing  is  removed 
to  a  safe  distance ;  or  is  carefully  isolated ;  or  is  sub- 
jected to  a  series  of  insulating  regulations.  The  en- 

1  Hose  and  McDougall,  The  Rites,"  Journal  of  the  Royal  An- 

Pagan  Tribes  of  Borneo,  London,  thropological  Institute,  1910,  xl, 

1912,  i,  26.  428. 

2C.  W.  Hobiey,  "Kikuyu  Cus-  3  R.  C.  Thompson,  The  Devils 

toms  and  Beliefs.  Thahu  and  its  and  Evil  Spirits  of  Babylonia,  Lon- 

Connection  with  Circumcision  don,  1904,  ii,  pp.  xxxix  sqq. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

tire  community  is  interested  in  such  proceedings, 
and  on  certain  occasions  may  itself  be  placed  under  a 
rigid  quarantine.  When  this  happens,  a  period  of 
abstinence  and  quiescence  is  regarded  as  the  surest 
means  of  avoiding  dangers  felt  to  threaten  each  and 
every  member  of  the  social  group.  Nor  will  the  pro- 
cedure greatly  differ  where  distinctly  animistic  ideas 
prevail,  and  when  the  impending  danger  is  specifically 
attributed  to  the  action  of  spiritual  beings  or  of  gods. 
In  the  latter  case,  it  is  true,  the  idea  of  propitiation 
becomes  increasingly  prominent,  since  it  is  often  felt 
to  be  necessary  to  appease  by  various  rites  and  cere- 
monies the  supernatural  powers  responsible  for  the 
visitation.  The  two  conceptions  of  abstinence  and 
propitiation  are  not,  indeed,  always  sharply  distin- 
guishable in  concrete  cases,  and  with  advancing  cul- 
ture they  tend  to  become  more  and  more  closely 
conjoined. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  the  origin  of  some  of  the 
communal  regulations  is  to  be  sought  in  the  taboos 
observed  by  persons  at  such  great  and  critical  seasons 
as  birth,  puberty,  marriage,  and  death.1  Comparative 
studies  have  indicated  how  numerous  are  the  pro- 
hibitions which  attach  to  these  times  of  high  solemnity 
and  significance ;  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that, 
with  the  deepening  sense  of  social  solidarity,  observ- 
ances once  confined  to  the  individual  alone,  or  to  his 
immediate  connections,  would  often  pass  over  into  rites 
performed  by  the  community  at  large.  Some  evidence 
tending  to  substantiate  this  opinion  will  be  presented 
incidentally  as  the  investigation  proceeds. 

1  For  an  extensive  presentation  Beautiful,  London,  1913,  i,  22-100, 

of  the  ethnographic  evidence  see  ii,  225-278.     The  whole  subject  is 

Sir   J.   G.   Frazer,    Taboo   and  the  most  suggestively  treated  by  Pro- 

Perils  of  the  Soul,  London,   1911,  fessor  A.  van  Gennep,  Les  rites  de 

pp.     131-223;     idem.    Balder    the  passage,  Paris,  1909. 


CHAPTER  I 

TABOOED    DAYS    AT    CRITICAL    EPOCHS 

OUR  knowledge  of  taboo  within  the  Polynesian  area 
rests  chiefly  on  the  vague  and  unsatisfactory  accounts 
by  early  missionaries,  who  were  unable  to  describe 
much  more  than  its  exterior  aspects,  its  origin  and  inner 
significance  having  quite  escaped  their  consideration. 
Fundamentally,  the  system  of  taboos  formed  a  reli- 
gious institution,  if  religion  be  understood  in  its  broad- 
est sense  as  a  recognition  of  the  supernatural.  The 
Polynesian  belief  that  the  violator  of  a  taboo  would  be 
punished  by  the  offended  atua,  or  spirits,  readily  lent 
itself  to  priestcraft  and  statecraft  and  so  became  in  the 
hands  of  the  ruling  classes  an  instrumentum  regni,  a 
powerful  engine  of  social  and  political  control.  In 
Hawaii,  where  the  superstitions  in  question  reached 
their  most  elaborate  and  grotesque  development,  com- 
munal taboos  could  be  imposed  only  by  the  priests, 
although  this  action  was  often  taken  at  the  instance 
of  the  civil  authorities.  Police  officers  were  even 
appointed  to  make  sure  that  all  prohibitions  were 
strictly  observed.  For  every  breach  of  the  rules  the 
death  penalty  was  inflicted,  unless  the  delinquent  had 
some  very  powerful  friends  who  themselves  were  either 
priests  or  chiefs. 

The  range  of  these  Hawaiian  taboos,  as  extended  for 
reasons  of  state  or  religion,  was  very  wide.  We  are 
told  that  idols,  temples,  the  persons  and  names  of  the 
king  and  his  family,  the  persons  of  the  priests,  and  the 
houses  and  clothes  of  the  king  and  priests  were  always 
tabu.  Certain  much-prized  articles  of  food,  besides 
almost  everything  offered  in  sacrifice,  were  reserved 

8 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS        9 

by  taboos  for  gods  and  men ;  hence  women,  except  in 
cases  of  particular  indulgence,  were  restricted  from  using 
them.  Sometimes  an  entire  island  or  district  was 
tabooed  and  no  one  was  allowed  to  approach  it.1 

The  institution  of  taboo  also  included  regulations 
for  the  special  observance  of  certain  times  and  seasons. 
Their  duration  was  various,  and  apparently  much 
longer  in  remote  ages  than  in  the  period  immediately 
preceding  the  arrival  of  the  missionaries.  In  Hawaii, 
before  the  reign  of  Kamehameha  II,  forty  days  was  the 
usual  length  of  time.  There  were  also  periods  of  ten 
days  and  of  five  days,  and  sometimes  of  only  one  day. 
Tradition  declares,  however,  that  once  a  taboo  was  in 
force  for  thirty  years  and  that  during  this  time  the 
men  were  not  allowed  to  trim  their  beards.  A  tabooed 
period  kept  for  five  years  is  also  mentioned.  Else- 
where in  the  South  Seas  less  extensive  periods  prevailed, 
the  longest  known  being  at  Huahine,  one  of  the  Society 
Islands,  where  a  season  of  abstinence  is  said  to  have 
lasted  for  ten  or  twelve  years.2 

The  observance  of  such  taboos  varied  according  as 
they  were  common  or  strict.  When  a  common  sea- 
son prevailed,  the  men  were  required  only  to  abstain 
from  their  usual  duties  and  to  attend  at  the  heiau,  or 
temple,  where  prayers  were  offered  every  morning  and 
evening.  During  a  period  strictly  tabooed  the  regu- 
lations had  a  sterner  character,  and  in  consequence  a 
general  gloom  and  silence  pervaded  the  whole  district 
or  island.  Every  fire  and  light  was  extinguished ; 
canoes  were  not  launched ;  no  person  bathed  ;  and  no 
one  was  to  be  seen  out  of  doors,  save  those  whose  pres- 
ence was  required  at  the  temple.  Even  the  lower 
creation  felt  the  force  of  the  law :  "no  dog  must  bark, 
no  pig  must  grunt,  no  cock  must  crow — or  the  tabu 
would  be  broken,  and  fail  to  accomplish  the  object 
designed.  On  these  occasions  they  tied  up  the  mouths 

1  Ellis,     Polynesian     Researches,  don,  1826,  p.  366;  idem,  Polynesian 
iv,  387  sqq.  Researches,  iv,  387  sq. ;  J.  J.  Jarves, 

2  Idem,     Narrative    of    a     Tour  History  of  the   Hawaiian  or  Sand- 
through  Hawaii  or  Owhyhee,   Lon-  wich  Islands?  Boston,  1843,  p.  57. 


io  REST  DAYS 

of  the  dogs  and  pigs,  and  put  the  fowls  under  a  cala- 
bash, or  fastened  a  piece  of  cloth  over  their  eyes." 1 
From  another  account  we  learn  that  any  one  found  in 
a  canoe  on  a  tabu  day  incurred  the  death  penalty,  and 
that  the  same  Draconian  punishment  was  meted  out 
to  the  individual  who  indulged  in  carnal  pleasures 
or  made  only  a  noise  at  such  a  time.2 

The  Sabbatarian  regulations  introduced  by  Chris- 
tian missionaries  among  their  Hawaiian  adherents 
presented  no  sharp  contrast  to  the  rigours  of  the  old  dis- 
pensation. The  natives  even  called  Sunday  la  tabu, 
"the  tabooed  day."  No  food  was  cooked  on  that 
day,  the  meals  being  all  prepared  on  the  previous 
Saturday ;  no  fires  were  kindled ;  and  no  canoes 
were  paddled.  The  people  neither  fished  nor  tilled  the 
soil  and,  if  on  a  journey,  they  halted  until  the  sacred 
day  was  over.3  In  Tahiti,  also,  the  Sunday  rest  was 
rigidly  maintained.  On  that  day  no  canoes  were 
launched,  and  no  person  was  seen  abroad  except  on  the 
road  to  church  or  when  returning  from  divine  service. 
The  success  of  the  missionaries  in  introducing  this 
strict  observance  of  Sunday  was,  we  learn,  "ascribed 
by  themselves  in  a  great  degree  to  its  analogy  to  the 
taboo  days  of  heathen  times."  4 


1  Ellis,   Narrative,   pp.   366  sq.;  was   heard   through  the  day;    no 
compare     idem,     Polynesian     Re-  persons  were  seen  carrying  burdens 
searches,  iv,  388.  in  or  out  of  the  village,  nor  any 

2  H.    T.    Cheever,     The    Island  canoes  passing  across  the  bay.     It 
World  of  the  Pacific,  Glasgow  [1851],  could  not  but  be  viewed  as  the  dawn 
p.  63.  of  a  bright  sabbatic  day  for  the 

3  Ellis,  Narrative,  p.  368;  Hiram  dark  shores  of  Hawaii"  (Polynesian 
Bingham,  A  Residence  of  Twenty-  Researches,   iv,   408).     For   similar 
one  Years  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  statements  see   C.   S.   Stewart,   A 
Hartford,   1849,   pp.   177  sq.     De-  Visit  to   the   South   Seas,   London, 
scribing  his  experiences  at  Kihoro,  1832,  pp.  277  sqq.,  302  sq. 

the  missionary  Ellis  could  not  4  Charles  Wilkes,  Narrative  of 
restrain  his  admiration  of  the  con-  the  U.S.  Exploring  Expedition, 
duct  of  the  native  converts  on  Philadelphia,  1845,  ii,  13.  "The 
Sunday:  "No  athletic  sports  were  tabu  system/'  wrote  an  early  mis- 
seen  on  the  beach;  no  noise  of  sionary,  "making  sacred  certain 
playful  children  shouting  as  they  times,  persons,  and  places,  and  con- 
gambolled  in  the  surf,  nor  distant  taining  many  restrictions  and  pro- 
sound  of  the  cloth-beating  mallet  hibitions,  may  easily  be  interpreted 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      n 

Communal  taboos  were  observed  by  the  Hawaiian 
Islanders  generally  in  connection  with  important  reli- 
gious ceremonies.  Of  these,  one  of  the  most  elaborate 
was  the  consecration  of  a  luakini,  or  chief  temple.  The 
rites,  which  were  often  performed  just  before  a  war 
in  order  to  insure  victory,  occupied  ten  or  more  days. 
After  a  solemn  purification  of  the  island  or  district  all 
the  people  were  summoned  to  divine  service,  during 
which  a  priest  sprinkled  them  with  holy  water,  i.e., 
salt  water  mixed  with  a  little  turmeric,  some  moss,  and 
a  bunch  of  a  sacred  fern.  "The  next  thing  in  order  was 
to  bring  down  the  principal  idol,  called  the  hakuohia, 
from  the  forest.  A  great  procession  was  formed,  con- 
sisting of  the  king,  the  hakuohia  priest,  and  a  crowd  of 
attendants  carrying  idols  and  various  offerings,  and 
leading  a  human  victim.  The  tree  had  been  selected 
and  the  axe  consecrated  the  day  before.  On  arriving 
at  the  tree,  the  priest  recited  the  appropriate  aha 
[prayer]  amid  dead  silence,  after  which  the  king  pro- 
nounced the  amama  [spell],  and  killed  the  hog  with  a 
single  blow.  The  priest  inquired  whether  any  sound 
of  man  or  beast  or  bird  or  cricket  had  been  heard  dur- 
ing the  aha,  and  if  not,  it  was  a  good  omen.  The 
doomed  man  was  then  brought  forward,  and  offered 
to  the  god  by  the  king,  after  which  his  body  was  buried 
at  the  foot  of  the  tree.  The  consecrated  hog  was  baked 
in  an  oven  on  the  spot,  while  the  tree  was  cut  down, 
trimmed,  and  covered  with  ieie  vines.  After  the  com- 
pany had  feasted,  a  procession  was  formed  with  the 
feather-gods  in  front,  followed  by  the  chiefs  and  people 

as  a  relic,  much  changed  and  cor-  au  moins  dans  quelques-uns  de  ses 

rupted,  from  the  ancient  ceremonial  effets,  mais  eminemment  religieux 

observances  of  the  Jews"  (Sheldon  dans  son  origine,   non  moins  que 

Dibble,    History    of   the    Sandwich  1'interdit  des  Hebreux,  avec  lequel 

Islands,  Lahainaluna,  1843,  p.  27).  il  avait  des  rapports  frappans,  qui 

The     resemblances     between     the  n'ont    point    encore    etc    signales, 

Polynesian  institution  and  certain  quoique  meritant  assurement  toute 

customs  recorded  in  the  Old  Testa-  Tattention    du    philosophe    et    du 

ment     impressed     another     early  moraliste"     (J.     A.     Moerenhout, 

writer,  who  refers  to  taboo  as  "ce  Voyages  aux  lies  du  grand   ocean, 

singulier  usage,  en  partie  politique,  Paris,  1837,  ii,  6). 


12  REST  DAYS 

with  pala  fern,  o/u'fl-branches,  etc.,  and  others  carrying 
the  new  idol.  .  .  .  The  inhabitants  remained  indoors, 
for  it  was  death  to  meet  the  procession,  and  all  fires 
were  strictly  forbidden.  The  images  were  finally 
carried  to  the  heiau,  where  they  were  deposited  with 
shoutings  and  beating  of  drums."  1  Following  this 
rite  came  a  long  series  of  services  at  the  heiau.  The 
night  of  the  great  aha  "was  the  most  solemn  and  critical 
of  all.  The  omens  were  carefully  observed,  and  pray- 
ers were  offered  in  every  house  for  the  success  of  the 
coming  aha,  and  for  auspicious  weather,  that  there 
might  be  no  wind  or  rain,  no  thunder  or  lightning,  no 
high  surf,  and  no  sound  of  man  or  beast  to  mar  the 
ceremonies.  If  the  sky  was  clear  and  everything 
favourable,  between  midnight  and  morning  the  king 
and  high-priest  entered  the  small  house,  called  waiea, 
to  perform  the  great  aha  (hulahula),  while  the  congre- 
gation sat  in  front  of  the  mana  house,  listening  and 
watching  in  profound  silence.  The  king  stood  listen- 
ing intently  and  holding  a  pig,  while  the  high-priest, 
clad  in  white  kapa,  and  holding  a  lama  rod  wound  with 
aloa  (white  kapa),  recited  the  long  prayer.  At  its 
close  the  king  killed  the  pig  with  a  single  blow,  and 
offered  it  up  with  a  short  prayer  to  the  four  great 
gods.  The  priests  then  asked  the  king  whether  the 
aha  was  perfect,  and  whether  he  had  heard  the  voice 
of  man  or  dog  or  mouse  or  fowl,  or  anything  else  dur- 
ing the  prayer.  If  not,  he  tapped  the  large  drum  as 
a  signal  that  it  was  over,  and  they  both  went  out  to 
question  the  assembly  outside.  If  no  one  had  heard 
a  sound  during  the  ceremony,  the  high-priest  congratu- 
lated the  king,  and  predicted  for  him  victory  and  long 
life.  The  people  then  raised  loud  shouts  of  Lele  wale 
ka  aha  el  which  were  repeated  by  all  who  heard  them, 
and  so  the  news  travelled  far  and  wide."  2  Such  were 

1  W.  D.  Alexander,  A  Brief  His-  the  early  archives  of  the  govern- 

tory  of  the  Hawaiian  People,  New  ment. 

York,   1899,  p.  55.     The  author's  2  Alexander,  op.  cit.,  pp.  56  sq. 

work  is   based   largely  on   unpub-  Elsewhere  this  excellent  authority 

lished   Hawaiian   manuscripts   and  describes  the  Hawaiian  prayers  as 


TABOOED   DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      13 

some  of  the  ceremonies  at  the  dedication  of  an  impor- 
tant temple.1 

Communal  taboos  also  marked  the  celebration  by 
the  Hawaiians  of  the  great  makahiki,  or  New  Year's 
festival,  sacred  to  the  god  Lono.  On  the  twenty-third 
of  the  month  Welehu,  which  nearly  corresponded  to 
November,  Lono's  image  was  decorated  and,  when 
night  came  on,  all  the  people  went  to  bathe  in  the  sea. 
This  rite  of  purification  having  been  accomplished, 
men  and  women  donned  new  clothing  in  preparation 
for  the  festival  which  began  at  sunrise  on  the  morrow. 
During  the  four  days  of  its  continuance  no  fishing,  no 
bathing,  no  pounding  of  kapa,  and  no  beating  of 
drums  or  blowing  of  conchs  was  permitted.  Land 
and  sky  and  sea  were  tabu  to  Lono,  and  only  feast- 
ing and  games  were  allowed.  The  high-priest  was 
blindfolded  and  remained  in  seclusion.  On  the  fifth 
day  the  bandage  was  removed  from  his  eyes  and  canoes 
were  allowed  to  put  to  sea.  On  the  sixth  day  the  tabu 
season  began  again  and  continued  for  about  twenty 
days  longer.  The  festivities  at  length  drew  to  a  close, 
the  ornaments  of  Lono's  image  were  packed  up  and 
deposited  in  the  temple  for  use  another  year,  and  all 
restrictions  on  fishing  and  farming  were  taken  off  — 
noa  ka  makahiki.2 

in  some  measure  magical  incanta-  translated  from  the  Hawaiian  by 
tions,  which,  to  secure  the  desired  N.  B.  Emerson,  is  an  exception- 
effect,  required  to  be  repeated  ally  valuable  repository  of  native 
without  the  slightest  mistake.  lore. 

"  During  the  most  important  class  2  Alexander,  op.  cit.,  pp.  59  sqq. ; 
of  prayers,  called  aha,  it  was  neces-  Malo,  op.  cit.,  pp.  186-210.  This 
sary  that  absolute  silence  should  New  Year's  festival  with  its  accom- 
be  preserved,  as  the  least  noise  panying  taboo  is  also  referred  to  in 
would  break  the  spell  and  destroy  an  early  work  entitled  Voyage  of 
the  whole  effect  of  the  charm"  H.M.S.  Blonde  to  the  Sandwich 
(ibid.,  p.  50).  A  similar  precaution,  Islands  in  the  Years  1824-1825, 
as  is  well  known,  characterized  the  London,  1826,  pp.  n  sq.  Accord- 
ritual  of  a  Roman  sacrifice.  ing  to  A.  Fornander  (An  Account 
1  For  additional  data  on  this  of  the  Polynesian  Race,  London, 
subject  see  Jarves,  op.  cit.,  pp.  1878,  i,  119  sq.)  the  Hawaiian  year 
51  sq.,  and  David  Malo,  Hawai-  consisted  of  twelve  3<>day  months 
ian  Antiquities,  Honolulu,  1903,  with  five  additional  tabu  days  in- 
pp.  210-248.  The  latter  work,  tercalated  at  the  end  of  Welehu. 


i4  REST  DAYS 

In  old  Hawaii,  as  in  the  other  Polynesian  islands, 
fishing  formed  one  of  the  chief  means  of  livelihood 
and  ranked  next  to  agriculture  in  importance.  The 
fishermen,  who  composed  almost  a  distinct  class, 
observed  many  religious  rites  peculiar  to  themselves. 
For  instance,  a  man  would  not  venture  to  use  a  new 
net  or  to  build  and  launch  a  new  canoe,  without  prayer 
and  sacrifice  to  his  gods.  Communal  regulations  relat- 
ing to  fishing  were  imposed  twice  a  year  in  connection 
with  two  sacred  fish,  the  aku,  or  bonito,  and  the  opelu. 
Each  was  tabu  by  turns  for  six  months.  In  Hinaiaelee 
(July)  the  taboo  began  on  the  first  night  of  the  month, 
at  which  time  no  fire  might  be  kindled,  and  no  sound 
of  man  or  beast  or  fowl  might  break  the  profound  si- 
lence. The  following  morning  the  high-priest  repaired 
to  the  house  of  Ku-ula,  the  god  of  fishermen,  to  offer 
a  pig  and  to  recite  the  great  aha,  as  during  a  dedica- 
tion. Meanwhile  a  man  was  sent  to  the  woods  to 
gather  pala  fern.  All  that  day  a  solemn  rest  was  ob- 
served on  shore.  Next  morning  the  head  fisherman, 
wearing  a  white  malo,  or  girdle,  took  the  sacred  fern 
and  a  new  net  in  his  canoe  and  put  to  sea.  After 
prayers  to  his  tutelary  deities  and  to  Ku  the  fisherman 
proceeded  to  cast  the  net.  If  he  and  his  crew  made  a 
haul  of  opelu,  they  paddled  joyfully  for  the  shore  and 
presented  the  fish  to  the  high-priest,  who  sent  some  to 
the  king  and  placed  the  rest  on  the  altar  in  the  temple. 
Next  day  the  opelu  became  noa,  or  free  to  all,  but  the 
aku  in  its  turn  was  prohibited  to  human  use  for  six 
months,  and  was  not  to  be  eaten  on  pain  of  death.1 

The  Hawaiian  religious  system  included  a  remark- 
able approximation  to  the  institution  of  a  weekly 
Sabbath.  In  every  lunar  month  there  were  four  tabu 
periods,  dedicated  severally  to  the  four  great  gods  of 

If  this   statement   be   correct,  the  the    Hawaiian    year    was    strictly 

Hawaiian  epagomenal  days  would  lunar,  with  months  of  29  and   30 

furnish    a    remarkable   parallel    to  days  in  alternation   and   an  occa- 

those  of  the  ancient  Mexicans  and  sional  intercalary  month. 
Egyptians    (below,    pp.    279   sqg.).  1  Alexander,  op.  cit.,  pp.  52  sq.t 

But  the  best  authorities  agree  that  62  sq. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      15 

the  native  pantheon.  The  first  was  that  of  Ku,  from 
the  third  to  the  sixth  night ;  the  second,  that  of  Hua, 
at  full  moon,  including  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
nights ;  the  third,  that  of  Kaloa,  on  the  twenty-fourth 
and  twenty-fifth  nights  ;  and  the  fourth,  that  of  Kane, 
on  the  twenty-seventh  and  twenty-eighth  nights. 
During  these  tabu  periods  a  devout  king  generally 
remained  in  the  heiau,  busy  with  prayer  and  sacrifice. 
Women  at  such  times  were  forbidden  to  enter  canoes, 
and  sexual  intercourse  was  also  prohibited.1 

The  occasions  when  seasons  of  communal  abstinence 
and  quiescence  were  enforced  in  the  Society  Islands, 
the  Marquesas  Islands,  Samoa,  and  New  Zealand  were 
not  always  the  same  as  in  the  Hawaiian  group.  Diver- 
gencies of  custom  might  well  be  expected  among  the 
widely  scattered  divisions  of  the  Polynesian  race. 
But,  if  such  rites  as  those  for  the  dedication  of  a  temple 
or  for  the  observance  of  four  tabu  periods  in  every 
month  were  confined  to  the  Hawaiians,  some  other 
ceremonies,  notably  those  connected  with  fishing, 
were  much  alike  throughout  the  entire  Pacific  area. 

In  the  Society  and  the  Marquesas  islands  the  bonito 
fishing  in  November  or  December  opened  with  a  cere- 
mony removing  the  prohibition  which  had  previously 
rested  on  the  capture  of  that  fish.  A  strict  taboo  of 
all  activity  marked  the  first  day  of  the  proceedings  : 
no  one  could  approach  the  seashore,  or  make  a  fire,  or 
cook  food,  or  even  eat  before  the  going-down  of  the 
sun.  The  customary  employments  of  the  men  in 
canoe-building  and  house-building,  of  the  women  in 
the  preparation  of  cloths,  mats,  and  thread,  were  aban- 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  50  sqq.;   Dibble,  op.  the  god  Lono.     The  same  point  is 

cit.9  25  sq.;    Malo,  op.  cit.y  p.  56.  made  by  Judge  Fornander  (op.  cit., 

The    latter    authority,     a    native  i,  123  n.2),  whose  information  was 

writer  intimately  versed  in  Hawai-  derived    from    the    Hon.    S.    M. 

ian   antiquities,   declares   that   the  Kamakau,  an  intelligent  Hawaiian, 

seasons  of  taboo  were  not  observed  born    and    brought   up   under   the 

during  the  four  makahiki  months  heathen  regime.     On  these  Hawai- 

of  the  year,  when  the  regular  reii-  ian  Sabbaths  see    below,    pp.    88, 

gious  services  were  suspended  for  188,  233,  258,  303. 
games  and  ceremonies  in  honour  of 


16  REST  DAYS 

doned ;  "in  a  word,  all  work  was  forbidden;  it  was  a 
day  of  silence  and  of  devotion."  Meanwhile  the  priests 
remained  in  the  marai,  or  temple,  engaged  in  prayer; 
and  their  assistants  prepared  an  altar  to  receive  the 
first-fruits  of  the  fishing.  At  nightfall  the  single  canoe 
which  had  gone  forth  to  the  fishing  returned  with  the 
catch  of  bonito.  Several  of  the  largest  fish  were 
placed  on  the  altar,  and  the  others  were  entirely  con- 
sumed in  a  blazing  fire  before  the  altar.  The  fish 
caught  on  this  day  belonged  to  the  gods  and  those  on 
the  following  day  to  the  high-priest ;  but  on  the  third 
day  fishing  was  opened  to  all.1  Among  the  Maori 
of  New  Zealand  the  preparations  for  mackerel  fish- 
ing included  the  observance  of  various  taboos.  Every 
one  concerned  in  making  or  mending  nets,  the  ground 
where  the  nets  were  made,  and  the  river,  on  the  banks 
of  which  the  work  went  on,  were  in  a  state  of  sacredness. 
Nobody  might  walk  over  the  ground,  no  canoe  might 
pass  up  and  down  the  river,  no  fire  might  be  made 
within  a  prescribed  distance,  and  no  food  might  be 
prepared,  until  the  holy  season  came  to  an  end.2  In 
this  instance  only  fishermen  and  their  assistants  appear 
to  have  been  subject  to  the  restrictions.  The  Maori, 
however,  observed  communal  taboos  in  connection 
with  the  planting  of  the  kumara,  or  sweet  potato, 
formerly  the  most  important  agricultural  product  of 
New  Zealand  and  the  chief  reliance  of  the  natives  for 
food.  An  old  chief  of  Mokoia  Island,  Lake  Rotorua, 
has  described  how,  when  the  time  to  plant  kumara 
arrived,  the  priests  went  forth  to  the  woods  for  branches 
of  the  sacred  mapau  tree.  "On  that  day  and  the  day 
following,  everything  was  tapu.  The  people  fasted  and 
did  no  cooking.  The  waters  of  the  lake  were  tapu; 
no  canoes  were  allowed  to  put  out  and  no  fishing  was 

1J.    A.    Moerenhout,     Voyages  ing  as  "un  jour  de  silence  et  de 

aux  lies  du  grand  ocean,  Paris,  1837,  repos,  tapu  pour  ceux  qui  restent 

i,    516    sq.  ^   See    further    Mathias  a  la  maison." 
G —   [Garcia]   (Lettres  sur  les   lies  2  William  Yate,  An  Account  of 

Marquises,    Paris,    1843,     p.    210),  New    Zealand,    London,    1835,    p. 

who  refers  to  the  first  day  of  fish-  85. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      17 

done."  The  priests  took  the  mapau  twigs  to  the  stone 
image  of  the  kumara-god  (still  kept  on  the  island), 
and  laying  them  on  the  idol,  prayed  for  an  abundant 
harvest.  In  the  evening  they  went  to  the  gardens 
and  stuck  the  branches  in  the  earth.  The  skull  of  a 
tribal  chief  of  ariki  rank  was  disinterred  and  placed 
beside  the  mapau  sticks,  in  order  that  the  mana,  or 
magical  power  of  the  dead  chieftain,  might  guard  the 
plantation  and  assist  in  securing  a  bountiful  harvest.1 
Still  another  critical  epoch  when  the  Maori  subjected 
themselves  to  communal  taboos  occurred  at  the  begin- 
ning of  a  war.  Hostilities  having  been  decided  on, 
the  first  thing  necessary  was  to  take  the  auspices  by 
casting  the  niu.  One  of  the  leading  priests  procured 
a  quantity  of  fern-stalks,  some  of  which  represented 
spears,  and  the  remainder,  warriors.  The  warrior- 
sticks  were  stuck  in  a  mat  and  a  fern-stalk  was  hurled 
at  each  one.  If  the  missile  fell  on  the  left  side  of  the 
warrior-stick,  this  was  a  sign  that  the  person  whom  it 
represented  would  fall  in  battle,  if  on  the  right  side, 
that  he  would  live.  A  similar  procedure  was  enacted 
with  sticks  named  for  enemies,  and  for  the  men,  women, 
and  children  who  were  to  be  left  at  home.  On  the 
completion  of  the  niu  ceremony,  the  priests  lifted  the 
taboo  which  had  rested  over  the  settlement,  a  taboo 
imposing  abstinence  from  food,  but  not,  apparently, 
from  work.2 

1  James  Cowan,   The  Maoris  of  no.     No  food  might  be  cooked  on 
New  Zealand,  Melbourne  and  Lon-  the  day  before  a  war-party  set  out 
don,  1910,  pp.  i i6sq.     The  kumara  (ibid.,   p.    108).     Mr.  Tregear,   an 
crop   was   sacred,    all  persons   en-  excellent   authority,   declares   that 
gaged  in  its  cultivation  were  tempo-  in  New  Zealand   "there  were  no 
rarily   tabooed,    and   the    offering  long  periods  of  silence  such  as  the 
of  the   first-fruits   of  the    kumara  kings  of  Hawaii  laid  on  their  people 
formed    a    very    solemn    religious  by  proclaiming  tapu"  (ibid.,  p.  122). 
ceremony  (E.  Tregear,  in  Journal  Another  writer  assures  us  that  the 
of    the    Anthropological    Institute,  Maori  "had  no  days  more  sacred 
1890,  xix,  no).     Compare  Richard  than    others"     (Taylor,    op.    cit., 
Taylor,   Te  Ika  A  Maui,  London,  p.  92).     Yet  in  one  part  of  New 
J^SS,  p.  57.  Zealand  it  was  customary  to  cele- 

2  E.  Tregear,  in  Journal  of  the  brate  the  new  year  with  a  karakia, 
Anthropological  Institute,  1890,  xix,  or  magical  incantation  and  prayer; 


i8  REST  DAYS 

The  sacrifice  of  first-fruits  seems  to  have  formed  a 
regular  part  of  the  religious  system  of  the  Polynesian 
peoples,  for  we  possess  specific  references  to  it  among 
the  Hawaiians,  the  Samoans,  the  New  Zealanders, 
the  natives  of  the  Society  Islands,  and  those  of  the 
Tonga  Islands.  In  the  latter  group  the  ceremony, 
called  inachi,  generally  took  place  about  October. 
It  was  observed  with  scrupulous  care,  since  the  people 
believed  that  to  neglect  it  would  bring  upon  them  the 
vengeance  of  the  gods.  We  are  fortunate  in  possess- 
ing a  detailed  description  of  the  ceremony  by  an  eye- 
witness of  it.1  According  to  William  Mariner  the 
word  inachi  referred  to  that  portion  of  the  fruits  of 
the  earth  and  of  other  eatables  which  was  offered  to 
the  god  in  the  person  of  the  divine  chief  Tooitonga, 
an  allotment  made  once  a  year,  just  before  the  yam 
crop  had  arrived  at  maturity.  On  the  day  before  the 
ceremony  the  first-fruits  of  the  yam  season  were  dug 
up,  ornamented  with  ribbons,  and  dyed  red,  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  procession  on  the  morrow.  "The  sun 
has  scarcely  set  when  the  sound  of  the  conch  begins 
again  to  echo  through  the  island,  increasing  as  the 
night  advances.  At  the  mooa  [capital]  and  all  the 
plantations  the  voices  of  men  and  women  are  heard 
singing  Nofo,  oooa  tegger  gnaooe,  oooa  gnaooe,  'Rest 
thou,  doing  no  work;  thou  shalt  not  work.'"  2  This 

in  another  place  there  was  a  of  Mr.  William  Mariner,  Boston, 
karakia  when  the  new  moon  ap-  1820,  pp.  381-385.  Mariner  passed 
geared;  and  in  still  another  place  four  years  among  the  Tonga  Is- 
"the  most  sacred  day  of  the  year  landers  as  the  adopted  son  of  the 
was  that  appointed  for  hair-cutting;  king  Finow.  His  picturesque,  but 
the  people  assembled  from  all  the  apparently  reliable,  narrative  de- 
neighbouring  parts,  often  more  than  scribes  the  natives  in  their  aborig- 
a  thousand  in  number ;  the  opera-  inal  state  before  the  arrival  of 
tion  being  commenced  with  karakia,  Christian  missionaries, 
the  operator  and  his  obsidian  (sub-  2  Not  only  was  all  work  pro- 
stitute for  scissors)  being  thus  ren-  hibited  at  the  time  of  the  inachi, 
dered  peculiarly  sacred"  (ibid.,  but  even  any  one's  appearance 
p.  93).  abroad,  unless  for  the  purposes  of 
1  John  Martin,  An  Account  of  the  ceremony,  was  interdicted 
the  Natives  of  the  Tonga  Islands  .  .  .  (Martin-Mariner,  op.  cit.,  p.  383 
from  the  Extensive  Communications  n.2).  The  Tongans  observed  a 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      19 

increases  till  midnight,  men  generally  singing  the  first 
part  of  the  sentence,  and  the  women  the  last,  to  pro- 
duce a  more  pleasing  effect :  it  then  subsides  for  three 
or  four  hours,  and  again  increases  as  the  sun  rises. 
Nobody,  however,  is  seen  stirring  out  in  the  public 
roads  till  about  eight  o'clock,  when  the  people  from 
all  quarters  of  the  island  are  seen  advancing  towards 
the  mooa,  and  canoes  from  all  the  other  islands  landing 
their  men ;  so  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  Tonga  seem 
approaching  by  sea  and  land,  singing  and  sounding 
the  conch.  At  the  mooa  itself  the  universal  bustle 
of  preparation  is  seen  and  heard ;  and  the  different 
processions  entering  from  various  quarters,  of  men 
and  women,  all  dressed  up  in  new  gnatoos,  ornamented 
with  red  ribbons  and  wreaths  of  flowers,  and  the  men 
armed  with  spears  and  clubs,  betoken  the  importance 
of  the  ceremony  about  to  be  performed."  The  pro- 
ceedings consisted  in  the  solemn  presentation  of  the 
first-fruits  to  the  divine  chief  at  the  grave  of  his  prede- 
cessor, and  closed  with  a  feast  and  dance.  Then  the 
people  returned  to  their  homes,  perfectly  assured  of 
the  protection  of  the  gods. 

The  natives  of  Samoa  possessed  a  remarkably  com- 
plex pantheon  of  household  and  village  gods,  the  recip- 
ients of  prayer  and  sacrifice,  and,  in  the  case  of  the 
village  gods,  honoured  with  temples,  priests,  and  annual 
festivals.  The  Samoans  had  also  war-gods,  who  in 
character  resembled  the  other  deities,  since  they  were 
supposed  to  be  incarnate  in  animals  or  embodied  in 
inanimate  objects.1  One  of  these  militant  divinities 
was  the  cuttle-fish  (fe'e),  said  to  have  been  imported 

like     restriction     after     a     death.  l  This  Samoan  religious  system 

When  a  corpse  was  being  taken  to  has    been    fully   described    by    Sir 

the  burying-ground,  all  persons  in  J.  G.  Frazer,  who  believes  that  it 

the  roadway  or  the  adjacent  fields  exhibits   "what   seems   to   be   the 

were  obliged  to  keep  out  of  sight,  passage  of  pure  totemism   into   a 

under  pain  of  becoming  tabooed.  religion   of  anthropomorphic  gods 

Those  who  showed  themselves  at  with   animal   and   vegetable   attri- 

such  a  time  were  generally  killed  butes,   like  the  deities  of  ancient 

on    the    spot    (ibid.,    pp.    243    sq.9  Greece"   (Totemism  and  Exogamy, 

394).  London,  1910,  ii,  152). 


20  REST  DAYS 

from  Fiji.  In  one  place  Fe'e  was  a  general  village 
god  whose  province  was  not  confined  to  war.  "The 
month  of  May  was  sacred  to  his  worship.  No  traveller 
was  then  allowed  to  pass  through  the  village  by  the 
public  road ;  nor  was  any  canoe  allowed  in  the  lagoon 
off  that  part  of  the  settlement.  There  was  great 
feasting,  too,  on  these  occasions,  and  also  games,  club 
exercise,  spear-throwing,  wrestling,  etc.  ...  In  an- 
other district  three  months  were  sacred  to  the  worship 
of  Fe'e.  During  that  time  any  one  passing  along  the 
road,  or  in  the  lagoon,  would  be  beaten,  if  not  killed, 
for  insulting  the  god.  For  the  first  month  torches  and 
all  other  lights  were  forbidden,  as  the  god  was  about 
and  did  not  wish  to  be  seen.  White  turbans  were 
also  forbidden  during  the  festivities,  and  confined  to 
war.  At  this  time,  also,  all  unsightly  burdens  —  such 
as  a  log  of  firewood  on  the  shoulder  —  were  forbidden, 
lest  it  should  be  considered  by  the  god  as  a  mockery  of 
his  tentacula.^  1  Another  village  god,  who  rejoiced 
in  the  name  of  Titi  Usi,  or  Glittering  Leaf  Girdle, 
received  worship  at  the  new  moon.  "At  that  time 
all  work  was  suspended  for  a  day  or  two.  The  cocoa- 
nut-leaf  blinds  were  kept  down,  and  the  people  sat 
still  in  their  houses.  Any  one  walking  in  front  of  the 
house  risked  a  beating.  After  prayer  and  feasting 
a  man  went  about  and  blew  a  shell-trumpet  as  a  sign 
to  all  that  the  ceremonies  were  over,  and  that  the  usual 
routine  of  village  and  family  life  might  be  resumed."  2 
The  festivals  of  the  other  village  deities  of  Samoa  seem 
not  to  have  been  marked  by  compulsory  cessation  of 
activity.3 

The  observance  of  regular  periods  consecrated  to 
the  gods  has  been  noticed  in  some  other  parts  of  Poly- 
nesia. At  Fakaofo,  or  Bowditch  Island,  in  the  Union 
group,  the  month  of  May  was  devoted  to  the  worship 
of  the  great  god  Tui  Tokelau.  All  work  was  then 

1  George  Turner,   Samoa,   Lon-  3  Ibid.,  pp.  26  sq.9  41,  44,  47,  49, 
don,  1884,  pp.  29  sq.                               53,  57. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  60. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      21 

laid  aside.  The  people  assembled  from  the  three  is- 
lands of  the  group  to  enjoy  feasting  and  dancing.  They 
prayed  to  their  divinity  for  life,  health,  and  a  plentiful 
supply  of  fish  and  cocoanuts.1  In  tiny  Manahiki, 
or  Humphrey  Island,  the  natives  had  special  days  for 
worship,  every  three  or  four  months.  At  such  times 
heaps  of  food  were  collected  in  the  place  of  public 
assembly,  and  the  king,  who  was  high-priest  as  well, 
prayed  for  food  and  life  and  health  in  behalf  of  his 
people.2  We  are  told,  also,  that  when  the  god  Ratu- 
mai-Mbulu  visited  the  Fiji  Islands,  the  inhabitants 
lived  very  quietly  for  an  entire  month,  lest  they  should 
disturb  the  deity  in  his  task  of  making  the  fruit-trees 
blossom  and  bear  fruit.  During  this  Lenten  season 
the  natives  did  not  plant  or  build  or  sail  on  the  ocean 
or  go  to  war.  The  priests  announced  the  time  of  the 
god's  advent  and  departure.3  According  to  a  later 
account  Ratu-mai-Mbulu  (Lord  from  Hades)  was 
probably  a  deity  of  foreign  extraction.  "Through 
him  the  earth  gives  her  increase.  In  December  he 
comes  forth  from  Mbulu,  and  pours  sap  into  the  fruit- 
trees,  and  pushes  the  young  yam  shoots  through  the 
soil.  Throughout  that  moon  it  is  tabu  to  beat  the  drum, 
to  sound  the  conch-shell,  to  dance,  to  plant,  to  fight, 
or  to  sing  at  sea,  lest  Ratu-mai-Mbulu  be  disturbed, 
and  quit  the  earth  before  his  work  is  completed.  At 
the  end  of  the  month  the  priest  sounds  the  consecrated 
shell ;  the  people  raise  a  great  shout,  carrying  the  good 
news  from  village  to  village ;  and  pleasure  and  toil 
are  again  free  to  all."  4 

The  descriptions  of  Polynesian  customs  by  early 
observers,  though  frequently  the  only  accounts  we 
possess,  are  sometimes  very  brief  and  obscure.  These 
remarks  apply  to  a  curious  ceremony  annually  per- 
formed by  some  Fijian  tribes.  The  time  of  its  cele- 

1  Turner,  Samoa,  p.  269.  Western     Pacific,     London,     1853, 

2  Ibid.,  p.  279.  pp.  245  sq. 

3  J.    E.    Erskine,    Journal   of  a  4  Basil   Thomson,    The   Fijians, 
Cruise    among    the    Islands    of   the  London,  1908,  p.  114. 


22  REST  DAYS 

bration  was  determined  by  the  appearance  of  a  cer- 
tain sea-slug,  which  swarms  out  in  dense  shoals  from 
the  coral  reefs  on  a  single  day  of  the  year,  usually  in 
November  during  the  last  quarter  of  the  moon.  The 
arrival  of  the  sea-slugs  furnished  the  signal  for  a  gen- 
eral feast  at  those  places  where  they  were  taken. 
Hostilities  were  suspended  between  rival  communities 
for  four  days,  and  a  taboo  was  laid  to  prevent  noise 
or  disturbance  during  this  period.  No  labour  might 
be  done  and  no  person  might  be  seen  outside  his  house. 
"In  Ovolau  the  ceremony  begins  by  a  man  ascending 
a  tree  and  praying  for  fine  weather  and  winds  through- 
out the  year.  Thereupon  a  tremendous  clatter,  with 
drumming  and  shouting,  is  raised  by  all  the  people 
inside  of  the  houses  for  about  half  an  hour,  and  then 
a  dead  quiet  ensues  for  four  days,  during  which  they 
are  feasting  on  the  mbalolo.  If  in  any  dwelling  a  noise 
is  made,  as  by  a  child  crying,  a  forfeit  (ori)  is  immedi- 
ately exacted  by  the  chief/' 1  According  to  another 
account  the  rule  requiring  quiescence  was  so  strictly 
observed  that  not  even  a  leaf  might  be  plucked  or  the 
offal  removed  from  the  houses.  During  these  four 
days  the  men  lived  in  their  special  club-house  (mbure), 
and  the  women  and  children  remained  shut  up  in  the 
family  abodes.  At  daylight,  on  the  expiry  of  the  fourth 
night,  the  whole  town  was  in  an  uproar ;  and  men 
and  boys  scampered  about,  knocking  with  sticks  at 
the  doors  of  the  dwellings  and  crying  Sinariba.  This 
concluded  the  ceremony.2  It  would  seem  that  these 
accounts  refer  to  a  Fijian  New  Year's  festival,  which, 
like  that  of  the  Hawaiians,  was  held  in  November  for 
a  period  of  four  days,  and  was  marked  by  communal 
taboos  imposing  abstinence  and  quiescence.3 


1  U.S.     Exploring     Expedition,  This    festival    bore    the    name    of 
Philadelphia,     1846,     vi,     67     sq.  tarnbo  nalanga  (ibid.,  iii,  342). 
{Ethnography  and  Philology,  by  H.  8  In  Samoa  the  second  half  of 
Hale).  the  year  was  called  the  palolo  sea- 

2  Charles   Wilkes,    Narrative    of  son,  from  the  appearance  of  this 
the     U.S.     Exploring     Expedition,  singular  worm   for  three   days   in 
Philadelphia,     1845,     iii,     90     sq.  the  course  of  a  year.     If  the  last 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      23 

The  western  tribes  of  Viti  Levu,  largest  of  the  Fiji 
Islands,  in  traditions,  language,  and  physical  type  are 
recognized  as  distinctly  Melanesian.  In  former  days 
these  tribes  possessed  a  secret  association  known  as 
nanga,  or  mbaki,  which  closely  resembled  the  secret 
societies  so  common  in  the  Melanesian  Archipelago. 
It  is  highly  probably,  therefore,  that,  at  least  in  its 
known  form,  the  nanga  was  a  late  importation  into 
the  island  of  Viti  Levu.  Initiation  into  the  nanga 
was  supposed  to  bring  the  youth  of  the  tribe  into 
relations  with  the  ancestral  spirits,  who  were  repre- 
sented, at  the  time  of  the  ceremonies,  by  the  elders 
and  by  some  of  the  middle-aged  men.  The  sanctuary 
and  lodge  of  the  association  formed  the  earthly  dwell- 
ing-place of  the  spirits ;  it  was  a  tabernacle  as  holy 
to  these  Fijians  as  was  the  structure  in  the  Wilder- 
ness to  the  Israelites ;  there  the  first-fruits  of  the 
yam  harvest  were  solemnly  presented  to  the  ances- 
tors ;  and  there  the  young  men  of  Viti  Levu  were 
introduced  to  the  mysteries  of  the  tribe.  When  the 
nanga  enclosure  was  being  raised  for  the  initiatory 
performances,  the  people  suspended  all  other  work. 
Not  even  food-planting  might  be  done  at  such  a  time. 
"If  any  impious  person  transgressed  this  law,  'he 
would  only  plant  evil  to  himself  and  to  his  kinsfolk.'"  1 

quarter  of  the  moon  is  late  in  Octo-  des  and   Banks  Islands).     See  A. 

her,   the  palolo  is  found   the  day  Kramer,  Die  Samoa-Inseln,  Stutt- 

before,  the  day  of,   and  the  day  gait,    1903,    ii,    399-406,    and    B. 

after  that  quarter.     Should  the  last  Friedlander,  "Notes  on  the  palolo," 

quarter  of  the  moon  be  early  in  Journal  of  the  Polynesian  Society, 

October,  the  worm  does  not  come  1898,  vii,  44-46. 

till  the  last  quarter  of  the  Novem-  1  L.     Fison,     "The     nanga,     or 

ber  moon  (Turner,  Samoa,  p.  207).  Sacred  Stone  Enclosure,  of  Wain- 

The  palolo,  it  may  be  noted,  is  not  an  imala,  Fiji,"  Journal  of  the  Anthro- 

entire  animal,  but  only  the  "prop-  pological   Institute,    1885,   xiv,    18. 

agation-body"     of    a     sea-annelid  The  solemn  rite  of  initiation  into 

(apparently  Eunice  Firidis  Gray),  the  nanga  was   always   celebrated 

which   lives  in  holes  in  the  coral  at  the  time  of  the  New  Year's  fes- 

stone  and  comes  to  the  surface  for  tival,   late  in  October  or  early  in 

the  act  of  fertilization.     It  is  found  November.     This    Fijian    festival, 

in  various  parts  of  Polynesia,  in-  called    solevu    ni     vilavou,     corre- 

cluding   Samoa,   Fiji,   and   Tonga,  sponded  to  the  Tahitian  and  Hawai- 

and  also  in  Melanesia  (New  Hebri-  ian  makahiki  (A.  B.  Joske,  "The 


24  REST  DAYS 

In  this  instance  there  was  no  attribution  of  the  sacred 
period  to  any  particular  divinity,  though  all  the  cere- 
monies connected  with  the  nanga  were  supposed  to 
.be  directed  by  the  ancestral  spirits. 

The  scanty  records  of  aboriginal  Polynesian  society 
also  contain  some  passing  references  to  the  observ- 
ance of  communal  rest  days  on  certain  occasions  when 
the  social  consciousness  had  been  deeply  moved  by 
untoward  and  disastrous  events.  In  Futuna,  or  Er- 
ronan,  an  island  which  lies  close  to  the  dividing  line 
between  Polynesia  and  Melanesia,  the  custom  of  taboo 
is  said  to  be  very  common.  "They  go  so  far  as  to 
tapu  the  day  —  e.g.,  to  interdict  all  work  in  order  to 
please  the  gods,  or  to  avert  the  hurricanes."  1  In 
Hawaii  a  tabu  period  was  declared  during  the  sickness 
of  chiefs.2  In  Samoa  the  death  of  a  chief  of  high  rank 
was  followed  by  the  suspension  of  all  work  in  the 
settlement  for  from  ten  to  thirty  days,  until  the  fu- 
neral ceremonies  were  performed.  During  this  time  no 
stranger  might  approach  the  stricken  village ;  a  luck- 
less wayfarer,  pushing  in  by  accident,  would  have  been 
promptly  clubbed.3  This  Samoan  regulation,  as  we 
shall  see,  is  only  a  particular  instance  of  a  widespread 
primitive  custom.  Communal  rest  days  are  still 
observed  in  some  parts  of  Micronesia,  as  on  the  island 
of  Yap,  one  of  the  Carolines.  Here  two  aged  " wiz- 
ards," before  whom  all  important  questions  come  for 
decision,  have  the  power  of  imposing  taboos  on  an 
entire  village.  The  periods  of  seclusion  have  been 
known  to  last  for  six  months.  The  critical  epochs, 
when  such  interdicts  are  enforced,  occur  during  a 

nanga  of  Viti   Levu,"    Internatio-  2  Ellis,     Polynesian     Researches, 

nales  Archiv  fur  Ethnographie,  1889,  iv,  387. 

ii,  259).     On  the  nanga  see  further  3  W.   T.    Pritchard,   Polynesian 

H.   Webster,    "Totem   Clans    and  Reminiscences,   London,    1866,   pp. 

Secret    Associations    in    Australia  149  sq.;   George  Turner,  Nineteen 

and    Melanesia,"    Journal   of   the  Years  in  Polynesia,  London,  1861, 

Royal     Anthropological     Institute,  p.  229;   idem,  Samoa,  p.  146.     See 

1911,  xli,  506  sq.  also   A.    Bastian,    Inselgruppen   in 

1  S.  P.  Smith,  in  Journal  of  the  Oceanien,  Berlin,  1883,  p.  55. 
Polynesian  Society,   1892,  i,  40. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      25 

time  of  drought,  famine,  or  sickness,  after  a  death  of 
a  chief  or  famous  man,  and  before  a  fishing  expedition.1 
"In  short,  any  great  public  event  is  thus  celebrated, 
and,  in  fact,  there  is  always  a  tabu  in  full  swing  some- 
where or  other,  to  the  great  disgust  of  the  traders,  who 
only  see  in  these  enforced  holidays  an  excuse  for  idling, 
drunkenness  and  debauchery."  2 

The  accounts  preserved  in  the  older  literature  relat- 
ing to  Polynesia  thus  make  it  evident  that  communal 
taboos  occurred  at  critical,  or  especially  important, 
seasons.  The  prohibitions  were  negative  in  character, 
required  a  period  of  abstinence  sometimes  verging 
upon  complete  quiescence,  and  were  closely  connected 
with  the  aristocratic  and  theocratic  organization  of 
Polynesian  society.  At  the  same  time  the  communal 
regulations,  artificially  created,  are  to  be  assimilated 
to  those  which  rested  upon  individuals  alone  and  arose 
spontaneously  as  a  result  of  various  circumstances. 
Every  description  of  aboriginal  culture,  from  Hawaii 
to  New  Zealand,  contains  numerous  references  to  the 
network  of  taboos  which  invested  private  life.  All 
persons  dangerously  ill,  all  mothers  at  childbirth,  to- 
gether with  their  infants,  all  persons  who  handled  a 
corpse  or  assisted  at  a  funeral,  were  deemed  unclean 
and  hence  were  subjected  to  a  rigid  quarantine,  a  pro- 
tective measure  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the  social 
group.  If  we  assume  that  the  individual  taboos  repre- 
sent the  earlier  phase  of  the  institution,  then  the  com- 
munal taboos  may  be  regarded  as  merely  an  extension 
to  the  body  politic  of  these  simpler  and  more  rudi- 
mentary customs.  The  probability  of  such  a  transi- 
tion will  be  strengthened  by  a  consideration  of  the 
tabooed  days  found  among  some  other  primitive 
peoples. 

1  For  an  interesting  description  ers  and  fishers,  generally,  see 
of  the  regulations  imposed  on  the  Frazer,  Taboo  and  the  Perils  of  the 
fishermen  themselves  see  W.  H.  Soul,  pp.  190-223. 

~^.  W. 


Furness,  3d.,   The  Island  of  Stone  2  F.  W.  Christian,  The  Caroline 

Money,  Philadelphia,  1910,  pp.  38 
sq.     On  taboos  observed  by  hunt- 


Money,  Philadelphia,  1910,  pp.  38      Islands,  London,  1899,  p.  290. 

hi 


26  REST  DAYS 

Seasons  of  communal  abstinence  are  not  found  in 
Australia,  and  only  faint  indications  of  them  exist 
within  the  Melanesian  area,  that  great  island  group 
which  extends  from  New  Guinea  to  the  Fiji  Archipelago. 
In  New  Guinea  itself  a  few  instances  of  the  custom 
under  consideration  have  been  noted,  all  within  the 
British  possessions  there.1  Among  the  Roro-speaking 
•tribes,  inhabiting  the  strip  of  coast  from  Cape  Posses- 
sion in  the  west  to  Kabadi  in  the  east,  it  is  said  that 
an  entire  village  will  mourn  for  a  chief  or  influential 
man  "by  abstaining  from  fishing,  hunting,  and  pot- 
making,  and  by  reducing  garden-work  to  a  minimum." 
The  period  of  mourning  lasts  from  six  to  ten  days.2  In 
the  neighbourhood  of  Port  Moresby  are  the  Motu  and 
Koita  tribes,  some  of  whose  customs  were  described, 
many  years  ago,  by  a  native  missionary  who  long  la- 
boured in  New  Guinea.  Among  these  tribes,  we  are 
told,  "fishing  work  lays  the  people  under  a  number  of 
restrictions.  There  must  be  no  talking ;  any  one  caus- 
ing another  to  speak  prevents  his  getting  any  fish. 
If  the  fishermen  are  going  on  a  turtle  expedition,  all 
must  be  still  throughout  the  village.  None  go  about 
among  the  houses,  or  on  the  public  road.  All  go  up 
to  their  houses  and  sit  still.  No  sound  of  a  voice,  or 
chopping  firewood,  or  any  movement  is  allowed,  until 
it  is  supposed  that  the  fishing  party  is  clear  of  the 
lagoon,  and  out  into  the  deep  ocean,  and  then  the 
villagers  resume  their  usual  occupation."  3  These 
taboos  in  connection  with  fishing  closely  resemble 
the  regulations  so  common  in  Polynesia. 

The  Indonesian  inhabitants  of  Borneo  are  divided 
into  a  large  number  of  tribes,  among  which  the  Kayan, 

1  A  close  observer,  G.  A.  J.  van      sians  of  British  New  Guinea,  Cam- 
der  Sande,  did  not  notice  any  spe-      bridge,  1910,  p.  275. 

cial   rest   days  among  the  natives  3  Quoted     in     Turner,     Samoa, 

with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  and  p.  349.     The  custom  mentioned  in 

whose  customs  he  has  so  fully  de-  the  text  must  now  be  obsolete.     It 

scribed  (Nova  Guinea,  Leiden,  1907,  is  not  referred  to  in  Dr.  Seligmann's 

iii,  270).  exhaustive   account   of  the   Koita 

2  C.  G.  Seligmann,  The  Melane-  and  Motu  tribes. 


* 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      27 


e  Sea  Dyak,  and  the  Land  Dyak  are  perhaps  the 
best  known.  All  these  peoples  till  the  soil  and  live 
in  long  communal  houses  situated  on  the  banks  of  the 
rivers.  Though  now  spread  over  a  wide  area  in  Borneo, 
the  different  tribes  possess  in  common  many  social  and 
religious  customs,  notably  the  cult  of  omen  animals, 
together  with  the  observance  of  numerous  taboos  which 
are  regularly  enforced  at  the  time  of  rice  (padi)  plant- 
ing and  harvesting,  sometimes  also  at  mid-harvest.1 
The  taboos  found  among  the  Kayan  on  the  Baram 
River,  Sarawak,  have  been  well  described  by  a  recent 
traveller,  whose  picturesque  narrative  deserves  an 
extended  notice.2  "During  the  days  devoted  to  search 
for  omens  in  reference  to  the  sites  of  the  rice-fields, 
and  also  again  in  reference  to  the  planting,  the  Kayan 
refrain  from  their  usual  daily  occupations,  and  neither 
leave  their  houses  themselves  nor  allow  strangers  to 
enter.  These  days  of  seclusion  are  termed  permantong 
padi,  or  lali  padi,  and  correspond  very  closely  to  taboo 
elsewhere."  3 

The  rude  agricultural  methods  of  the  Kayan  start 
with  the  preliminary  process  of  clearing  a  site  in  the 

1  It  would  seem  that  among  the  The    Malay    word    in    full    would 

Bornean  tribes,  generally,  the  chief  thus     be     per-hantu-an,     meaning 

is  responsible  for  the  proper  obser-  "possessed    by    spirits"    or    "be- 

vation  of  the  omens  and  for  the  witched."     Lali  is  probably  a  pure 

regulation  of  taboos    affecting   an  Kayan     word     and     means     both 

entire  community.     Compare  Hose  "prohibited"  and  "sacred"  (Fur- 

and  McDougall,  The  Pagan  Tribes  ness,    op.    cit.,    p.     160;     A.    W. 

of  Borneo,  London,  1912,  i,  65.  Nieuwenhuis,   Quer  durch   Borneo, 

2W.     H.     Furness,     3d.,      The  Leiden,    1904-1907,    i,    109).     Ac- 

Home-life  of  Borneo  Head-hunters,  cording     to     Messrs.     Hose     and 

Philadelphia,  1902,  pp.  160-169.  McDougall    malan    and    parit    are 

3  Permantong  is  the  term  used  the  proper  Kayan  words  for  taboo, 

by  the  Kayan  of  the  Baram  Dis-  though  lali  and  tulah  are  used  as 

trict;     among   the   Kayan   in   the  their    lingua    franca    equivalents, 

valley  of  the  Kapuas  River,  Dutch  Malan    applies    to    acts    involving 

Borneo,  the  word  is  pantang,  the  risks    to    the    entire    community, 

regular  Malay  equivalent  of  tabu.  parit  to  those  involving  risk  to  the 

Both  these  forms  are  possibly  de-  individual     committing     the     for- 

rived    from    the    Malay    hantu,    a  bidden  act  (Pagan  Tribes  of  Borneo, 

word  meaning  demon  or  evil  spirit,  i,  14  n.1). 
with  the  prefix  per  and  the  affix  an. 


28  REST  DAYS 

dense  jungle.  The  work  is  extremely  tedious  and  if, 
after  all  the  heavy  labour,  the  crops  should  fail  or  be 
destroyed  by  monkeys,  birds,  or  beetles,  the  entire 
household  feels  that  some  act  has  been  committed 
whereby  the  displeasure  of  the  spirits  is  aroused. 
Accordingly,  before  beginning  so  arduous  a  task,  it 
is  essential  to  take  omens  from  the  actions  of  certain 
birds,  mammals,  and  reptiles,  called  amau,  which  are 
supposed  to  be  in  the  confidence  of  the  spirits.1  A 
patch  of  jungle  having  been  tentatively  selected,  the 
work  begins  with  the  removal  of  the  dense  undergrowth. 
During  this  preliminary  stage,  while  the  labour  is  less 
heavy  than  it  will  be  later,  when  trees  must  be  felled, 
the  household  is  not  as  yet  under  a  taboo.  Each 
person,  nevertheless,  keeps  a  sharp  eye  for  evil  omens. 
Should  a  native  on  the  way  to  the  clearing  see  any 
one  of  four  ominous  animals,  a  certain  species  of  snake, 
a  deer,  a  civet  cat,  or  a  rain-bird,  the  site  will  be  at 
once  abandoned,  regardless  of  the  work  already  done 
there.  Wilfully  to  ignore  such  a  warning  "not  only 
compromises  the  abundance  and  quality  of  the  crops, 
but  also  the  health,  or  even  the  life,  of  the  whole  house- 
hold." 2 

If  no  evil  omens  are  observed  for  three  days,  the 
Kayan  workers  feel  sufficiently  encouraged  to  proceed 
to  the  next  stage  of  felling  the  heavy  timber  on  the 
site,  which  has  now  been  stripped  of  its  underbrush. 
Then  ensues  an  elaborate  series  of  auguries.  While 
the  various  families  making  up  the  household  of  a 
communal  dwelling  remain  secluded  on  the  long  ve- 

1  On  these  omen  animals  see  1911,  pp.  47  sq.,  152  sqq.,  298; 
further  Sir  Spenser  St.  John,  Hose  and  McDougall,  op.  cit.,  ii, 
Life  in  the  Forests  of  the  Far  East,  51-114  (with  some  interesting  par- 
London,  1862,  i,  191  sqq.;  J.  allels  between  the  modern  Kayan 
Perham,  in  H.  L.  Roth,  The  Natives  and  the  Roman  auspices).  Com- 
of  Sarawak  and  British  North  pare  W.  D.  Wallis,  "Divination 
Borneo,  London,  1896,  i,  191-201 ;  and  Omens  in  Borneo  and  in 
A.  C.  Haddon,  Head-hunters,  Lon-  Ancient  Rome,"  Classical  Journal, 
don,  1901,  pp.  384  sqq.;  E.  H.  1914,  ix,  272-274. 
Gomes,  Seventeen  Years  among  the  2  Furness,  op.  cit.,  p.  161. 
Sea  Dyaks  of  Borneo,  London, 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      29 

randa,  or  in  their  small  private  rooms,  sitting  very  still 
all  day  and  smoking  and  talking,  two  hawk-men 
are  off  in  the  forest  looking  for  a  hawk,  called  niho. 
Three  days  must  be  devoted  to  this  search  :  if  the  hawk 
is  seen  on  the  first  day,  but  not  on  the  two  days  fol- 
lowing, the  omen  is  unfavourable.  The  people  will 
continue  the  preparation  of  the  soil,  but  they  expect 
poor  crops,  a  result  pretty  certain  to  follow  their  half- 
hearted and  discouraged  labours.  On  the  second  day 
the  search  is  continued,  and  if  the  hawk  is  seen,  the 
omen  is  favourable,  but  not  completely  so.  If  the 
third  day's  search  again  reveals  a  hawk,  the  two  men 
return  at  once  to  the  house  and  spread  the  good  news. 
Every  one  now  watches  the  actions  of  the  hawk. 
"Should  he  sail  away  out  of  sight  without  once  flap- 
ping his  wings  all  are  delighted ;  it  means  that  the 
clearing  of  the  jungle  may  now  continue  prosperously, 
and  that  neither  attack  of  enemies  nor  accident  to  the 
workers  need  be  feared.  Should  the  hawk  flap  his 
wings,  it  follows  that  some  men,  in  felling  the  jungle, 
will  be  badly  cut  by  their  axes  or  perhaps  crushed  under 
falling  trees.  All  instantly  avert  their  eyes  from  the 
flapping  hawk,  lest  the  bird  should  recognize  them  in 
the  fields  and  select  them  as  victims."  1 

There  now  occurs  a  brief  respite  of  the  lali  observ- 
ance, and  the  people  may  leave  their  houses.  But 
the  same  formalities  must  be  observed  by  the  natives 
while  search  is  made  for  four  other  ominous  animals. 
In  each  case  there  is  a  period  of  seclusion  and  absti- 
nence lasting  for  three  days.  These  are  all  the  omens 
that  must  be  consulted  before  the  heavy  timber  may 
be  felled,  the  ground  burned  over,  and  the  rice  planted. 

Such  are  the  various  taboos  which  affect  the  inmates 
of  a  communal  house  or  village,  before  the  crop  is 
started.  Other  regulations  concern  outsiders.  From 
the  hour  when  the  real  labour  of  felling  the  jungle 
begins  and  until  the  seed-planting  is  completed,  no 
stranger  may  enter  house  or  field.  Should  a  neighbour, 

1  Furness,  op.  cit.,  pp.  162  sq. 


30  REST  DAYS 

by  accident  or  necessity,  come  within  the  tabooed 
district,  he  must  atone  for  the  trespass  by  making  a 
small  payment,  called  usut.  It  consists,  ordinarily, 
of  a  few  beads  or  an  iron  implement.  These  objects 
are  placed  in  a  basket  and  hung  up  in  the  rice-field 
till  they  rust  away  or  disappear.  It  is  a  special  duty 
of  the  women  to  see  that  this  usut  is  paid. 

The  lali  ordinances  of  the  Kayan  are  not  confined  to 
the  time  of  seed-planting.  Once  more,  when  the  crop 
is  all  harvested,  the  house  is  closed  to  strangers.  For 
eight  days  no  one  may  go  away  on  an  expedition  or 
return  to  the  village  from  abroad.  Another  season 
of  restriction  follows  during  the  period  when  the  rice 
is  being  stored  in  the  granaries.  "But  as  soon  as  this 
harvesting  is  over,  a  general  feast  is  prepared,  and  merri- 
ment of  all  sorts  makes  up  for  the  weariness  of  the 
long  day's  work.  The  women  don  every  stitch  of 
their  finery  and  every  bead  to  their  name ;  some  even 
assume  men's  clothes,  and  carry  shield,  spear,  and 
parang.  In  the  evening  all  join  in  a  long  procession 
round  the  house ;  guests  are  invited  to  participate  in 
the  festivities,  and  'jest  and  youthful  jollity'  rule  the 
hour;  the  brimming  cup  passes  freely,  and  to  the 
harmonious  strains  of  the  kaluri  the  women  'trip  it  as 
they  go,'  or  leap  in  war-dances  in  imitation  of  the 
men."  After  this  festival  there  follows  yet  another 
period  of  taboo,  ten  days  in  length,  when  no  one  is 
allowed  to  do  a  stroke  of  any  work  that  resembles  the 
cultivation  of  rice:  "should  any  restless  creature 
express  a  desire  for  active  work,  he  is  scoffed  at  and 
scorned  as  a  spoil-sport  and  kill-joy."  * 

These  customs  of  the  Kayan  of  Sarawak  are  signifi- 
cant as  showing  how  for  a  Bornean  community  the 
whole  period  of  farming,  from  the  initial  task  of  select- 
ing a  site  to  the  final  storing  of  the  rice  in  the  granaries, 
is  supposed  to  be  subject  to  supernatural  influences. 
Planting  and  harvesting  are  critical  times,  when  every 
precaution  must  be  taken  to  win  the  approval,  and  to 

1  Furness,  op.  cit.,  pp.  164  sq. 


I 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      31 

thwart  the  ill  will,  of  the  spirits  which  affect  the  tribal 
life.  If  we  turn,  now,  to  the  Kayan  on  the  Mendalam 
River  in  Dutch  Borneo,  we  shall  find  here  also  a  com- 
munity of  primitive  farmers  who  depend  mainly  on 
the  rice  crop  for  subsistence,  and  by  whom  all  agri- 
cultural operations  have  been  invested  with  a  religious 
significance.  Without  the  consent  of  the  spirits  no 
farm  work  may  be  undertaken ;  without  a  strict  regi- 
men of  sacrifices  and  taboos  their  aid  cannot  be  secured 
for  the  growth  and  maturity  of  the  crops.  A  traveller, 
who  has  described  in  detail  the  agricultural  rites  of 
the  Kayan,  tells  us  that  the  sowing  festival  lasts  several 
weeks  and  that  during  this  period  certain  communal 
regulations  are  enforced.  On  the  first  day  of  the 
festival  every  one,  save  the  very  old  and  the  very  young, 
must  refrain  from  bathing ;  then  for  eight  successive 
days  no  work  may  be  done  and  no  intercourse  may  be 
held  with  neighbouring  communities.  The  custom  of 
excluding  strangers  at  this  time  has  a  purely  religious 
meaning :  the  presence  of  strangers,  so  the  Kayan 
believe,  would  frighten  or  annoy  the  spirits  and  conse- 
quently endanger  the  welfare  of  the  crops.1  Following 
the  rites  at  sowing  come  those  which  inaugurate  the 
hoeing  of  the  fields,  and  finally  the  New  Year's  festival, 
eight  days  in  duration,  when  the  harvest  has  been 
safely  garnered  and  the  long  period  of  labour  and  anxiety 
is  at  an  end.2 

But  the  critical  occasions  demanding  the  observance 
of  taboos  are  not  confined  by  the  Kayan  to  agricultural 
occupations.  Every  important  undertaking  may  be 
commenced  only  when  favourable  omens  have  been 

1  This  period  of  seclusion  is  em-  wooden  helmets  and   bandages  of 

ployed   by  the   Kayan   in   various  banana  leaves,  simulate  the  actions 

games  and  masquerades,  which,  if  of  evil  spirits.     On  the  magical  sig- 

they  have  a  recreative  value,  pos-  nificance    of    games    in    primitive 

sess  as  well  a  religious  or  magical  agriculture,  see  Sir  J.   G.    Frazer, 

meaning     in     the     minds     of    the  Spirits  of  the  Corn  and  of  the  Wild, 

people.     During  the  sowing  festi-  London,  1912,  i,  92-112. 

val  the  men  play  at  spinning  tops,  2  A.  W.  Nieuwenhuis,  Quer  durch 

the     youths     engage     in     athletic  Borneo,  Leiden,   1904-1907,  i,  166 

sports,  and  maskers,  disguised  by  sqq. 


32  REST  DAYS 

vouchsafed  by  the  good  spirits,  and  when  the  spirits 
of  evil  intent  have  been  pacified  by  many  acts  of 
abstinence.  These  aborigines,  for  example,  entertain 
the  belief  that  house-building,  which  necessarily  in- 
volves the  cutting-down  of  many  trees,  is  a  dangerous 
occupation,  because  it  arouses  the  animosity  of  the 
tree-spirits.  Hence  some  Kayan  villages,  after  the 
erection  of  a  communal  house,  observe  a  period  of 
penance  for  an  entire  year.  The  Ulu-Ayar  Dyak 
on  the  Mandai  River,  when  they  use  the  valuable 
ironwood  as  timber,  feel  it  necessary,  in  consequence, 
to  deny  themselves  various  dainties  for  three  years.1 
To  the  Kayan  on  the  Mahakam  River  in  Dutch  Borneo, 
the  building  of  a  chief's  house,  in  which  task  all  take 
part  by  contributing  either  materials  or  labour,  forms 
a  matter  of  great  moment.  Dr.  Nieuwenhuis,  who 
witnessed  the  ceremonies  on  such  an  occasion,  tells  us 
that  the  regulations  enforced  begin  with  the  collection 
of  materials  for  the  new  dwelling.  Nothing  may  be 
done  at  full  moon,  a  time  when  important  business  is 
always  suspended.2  During  the  search  for  satisfactory 
trees  and  while  these  are  being  turned  into  piles,  planks, 
and  shingles,  watch  is  kept  for  spirit-warnings  as 
revealed  by  the  flight  and  cries  of  the  ominous  birds. 
Work  on  the  house  always  terminates  at  nightfall, 
when  birds  are  silent.  Important  stages  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  house,  such  as  the  sinking  of  the  piles 
and  the  placing  of  the  finely  carved  wooden  figure- 
heads at  the  two  ends  of  the  ridgepole,  are  signalized 
by  appropriate  sacrifices  to  the  spirits.  When  a  suffi- 
cient quantity  of  shingles  has  been  prepared  for  cover- 
ing the  roof,  another  offering,  consisting  of  a  fat  pig 
and  two  chickens,  is  made  to  the  spirits.  Then  fol- 
lows a  rest  period,  called  melo*  two  days  in  length. 
During  this  time  a  strip  of  rattan  is  stretched  around 

1  Nieuwenhuis,  op.  cit.,  i,  107.          do  not  go  forth  on  the  search  for 

2  The  Kayan  call  the  full  moon      omens  (ibid.,  i,  415). 

the  "evil  moon"  and  at  this  time  'Translated    by    Dr.    Nieuwen- 

build  neither  houses  nor  boats,  and      huis  as  "sitzen,  nicht  arbeiten." 


I 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      33 


the  house  to  indicate  that  no  one  may  enter  it.  While 
the  house  is  being  shingled,  any  untoward  event  will 
interrupt  the  progress  of  the  work.  For  instance, 
should  a  man  tumble  off  the  roof,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  perform  another  sacrifice  and  to  declare  a  melo  last- 
ing eight  days.  Thus  anxiously  and  seriously  does  the 
Kayan  conduct  himself  in  all  the  crises  of  his  tribal 
life.1 

Among  the  most  numerous  and  powerful  of  the  Bor- 
nean  tribes  are  the  Iban,  or  Sea  Dyak,  who  occupy 
much  of  the  country  between  the  Baram  River  in 
Sarawak  and  the  Kapuas  River  in  Dutch  Borneo. 
Throughout  this  extensive  district  the  Iban  use  the 
same  language  and  possess  substantially  uniform  cus- 
toms. A  Christianized  native,  who  has  given  to  us  a 
remarkably  intimate  description  of  the  religious  observ- 
ances of  his  people,  thus  sets  forth  the  omens  and  inci- 
dents which  require  abstention  from  work. 

"When  at  night  the  Iban  dreams  of  insult,  anger,  or 
that  he  has  been  bitten  by  a  snake,  crushed  by  a  fall- 
ing tree,  waylaid  by  a  ghost,  chased  by  a  crocodile, 
the  following  day  he  rests  from  all  work :  to  go  abroad 
or  about  his  work  after  such  dreams  would  cause  him 
to  be  wounded,  hurt  by  falling  wood,  or  shot  by  an 
arrow  from  the  evil  spirits'  blowpipe.  On  the  fre- 
quent recurrence  of  such  dreams  the  medicine-man  is 
called  in,  who  rubs  the  patient's  body  with  a  charm 
which  makes  him  invisible  to  the  evil  spirits.  This 
ceremony  is  called  btdinding,  i.e.,  the  shielding.  .  .  . 
To  dream  of  being  enveloped  by  a  swarm  of  bees,  of 
being  overwhelmed  by  falling  earth,  that  the  waist- 
cloth  has  rotted  away,  or  of  eating  rice  from  a  winnow- 
ing-fan,  will  deter  the  Iban  from  going  on  the  war- 
path, for  they  tell  of  defeat  and  of  being  overpowered 
by  the  enemy. 

1  A.    W.    Nieuwenhuis,    "  Reli-  des   II   internationalen   Kongresses 

giose  Zeremonien  beim  Hauserbau  fur    allgemeine    Religions  geschichte, 

der  Bahau-Dajak  am  obern  Maha-  Basel,  1905,  pp.  107-119;  compare 

kam    in    Borneo,"    Ferhandlungen  idem,  Quer  durch  Borneo >,  ii,  174. 
D 


34  REST  DAYS 

"To  hear  the  cry  of  a  bird  of  evil  omen  on  first  wak- 
ing in  the  morning,  or  on  rising  up  from  the  morning 
meal,  prevents  the  Iban  from  going  to  his  work  on 
that  day.  .  .  .  When  the  Iban  is  setting  out  to  his 
work  and  has  descended  the  ladder  leading  from  his 
house,  if  the  note  of  a  bird  of  any  kind  is  heard  at  the 
same  time  as  his  foot  first  touches  the  ground,  he  must 
turn  back.  The  cry  of  the  kikeh  senabong,  gazelle,  or 
deer,  heard  on  the  path,  will  cause  him  to  give  up  work 
for  that  day.  The  same  happens  if  these  omens  are 
heard  as  he  enters  the  field ;  arrives  at  the  pankalan, 
i.e.,  'resting  place ';  when  commencing  his  work ;  whilst 
sharpening  his  chopper,  or  after  the  midday  meal. 

"The  news  of  a  death  occurring  in  the  neighbourhood 
or  at  a  distance,  the  time  of  full  moon,1  the  performance 
of  ceremonies  over  the  sick  by  the  medicine-man,  a 
sacrifice  to  the  spirits,  are  incidents  that  require  all 
the  villagers  to  rest  from  work.  Likewise,  if  some  of 
the  villagers  attend  a  feast  in  a  neighbouring  village, 
those  that  remain  behind  must  rest  from  work  lest  they 
should  incur  the  anger  of  the  guardian  spirits  of  those 
attending  the  feast."  2 

But  these  are  not  all  the  circumstances  under  which 
an  Iban  community  subjects  itself  to  the  rule  of  ab- 
stinence. Rice-planting  here,  as  among  the  Kayan, 
necessitates  certain  rest  periods,  each  of  three  days' 
duration.3  While  a  village  is  under  construction, 
weaving  the  native  cloth,  settling  quarrels,  and  going 
on  the  warpath  are  forbidden ;  to  break  this  taboo 
would  cause  a  death  in  the  village.4  When  rumours  are 
abroad  of  cholera,  smallpox,  or  fever,  another  season 
of  seclusion  is  imposed.  The  entrance  to  the  village 

1  "At    certain    seasons    of    the  Years  in  Sarawak,  London,   1866, 

moon,  just  before  and  just  after  the  i,  149). 

full,  the  [Sea]  Dyaks  do  not  work  2  Leo  Nyuak,   "Religious  Rites 

at    their    farms ;     and   what   with  and  Customs  of  the  Iban  or  Dyaks 

bad  omens,  sounds,  signs,  adverse  of  Sarawak,"  translated  from  the 

dreams,  and  deaths,  two-thirds  of  Dyak    by    the    Very    Rev.    Edm. 

their   time   is   not   spent   in   farm  Dunn,  Anthropos,  1906,  i,  410  sq. 
labour"     (Charles     Brooke,     Ten  *  Ibid.,  i,  176.          *  Ibid.,  i,  181. 


: 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT   CRITICAL  EPOCHS      35 

is  railed  off,  and  no  one  is  allowed  either  ingress  or 
egress  for  three  days,  during  which  time  all  rest  from 
work.  Meanwhile  the  village  elders  have  prepared 
an  offering  to  the  evil  spirit  of  the  epidemic.  This 
sacrifice,  together  with  a  winnowing-fan  on  which  is 
the  figure  of  man  drawn  in  chalk,  is  placed  in  a  shed 
near  the  village.  The  evil  spirit,  it  is  thought,  will 
stop  to  observe  the  chalk-drawing  and  thus  will  be  led 
to  discover  the  food  which  has  been  left  in  the  shed. 
Having  satisfied  his  hunger,  he  will  not  seek  to  enter 
the  village.1  The  general  character  of  these  taboos 
as  propitiatory  rites  is  further  illustrated  by  some  of 
the  customs  relating  to  agriculture.  When  the  forest 
land  has  been  fully  cleared  and  left  to  dry,  sun  and 
wind  become  of  vital  consequence  to  the  Iban,  for,  if 
the  people  are  unable  to  burn  the  immense  mass  of 
timber  and  brush-wood  in  the  jungle,  famine  stares 
them  in  the  face  during  the  year  to  come.  "If  it  pour 
with  rain  day  after  day  and  week  after  week,  and  there 
is  no  promise  of  continued  fine  weather,  they  are  apt 
to  imagine  that  some  impurity  has  defiled  the  tribe 
and  that  the  face  of  the  Great  Spirit  is  hid  from  them. 
So  the  elders  of  the  people  get  to  work  to  find  it  out, 
and  adjudicate  on  all  cases  of  incest  and  bigamy,  and 
purify  the  earth  with  the  blood  of  pigs.  Prayers  are 
offered  to  Betara  2  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the 
other;  for  the  space  of  three  days  the  villages  are 
tabooed,  and  all  labour  is  discontinued;  the  inhabi- 
tants remain  at  home  and  strangers  are  not  admitted. 
But  if  the  weather  is  warm  and  dry,  the  farms  are 
ready  in  a  very  few  days  for  the  burning."  3 

»l  Ibid.,  i,  416  sq.  which  the  Dyak  has  peopled   his 

2  Betara,  otherwise  petara,  is  the  universe.     See  J.  Perham,  f(  Petara, 

ordinary     Sea     Dyak     name     for  or  Sea  Dyak  Gods,"  Journal  of  the 

deity.      The    word    is    incorrectly  Straits  Branch  of  the  Royal  Asiatic 

translated  as  "Great  Spirit";    in  Society,  1881,  no.  8;    H.  L.  Roth, 

general     belief    there     are     many  The  Natives  of  Sarawak  and  British 

petara.     These    gods,    it    may    be  North    Borneo,    London,     1896,     i, 

noted,  are  separated  by  no  distinct  168-182. 

line  of  demarcation  from  the  thou-  3  Brooke  Low,  in  Roth,  op.  cit., 

sands    of    antu,    or    spirits,    with  i,  401.     See  also  idem,  in  Journal 


36  REST  DAYS 

The  seasons  of  communal  abstinence  found  among 
the  Land  Dyak,  who  dwell  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
Sarawak,  differ  only  in  minor  details  from  those  of 
other  Bornean  tribes.  There  are  three  principal  occa- 
sions when  the  Land  Dyak  subject  themselves  to 
pamali,  or  taboo : 

"The  first,  pamali  mati,  is  on  a  house,  and  on  every- 
thing in  it  for  twelve  days  after  the  decease  of  any  per- 
son belonging  to  it :  during  this  time,  no  one  who  is  not 
an  inhabitant  of  the  dwelling  can  enter  it,  nor  are  the 
persons  usually  residing  in  it  allowed  to  speak  to  such, 
nor  can  anything,  on  any  pretence  whatever,  be  re- 
moved from  it,  until  the  twelve  days  of  the  prohibition 
be  expired :  its  conclusion  is  marked  by  the  death  of 
a  fowl  or  pig,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
family. 

"The  pamali  peniakit  is  undertaken  by  a  whole 
village  during  any  sickness  which  prevails  generally 
amongst  the  members  of  the  tribe ;  it  is  marked  by  a 
pig  slain,  and  a  feast  being  made  in  order  to  propitiate 
the  divinity  who  has  sent  the  malady  among  them ; 
in  its  severest  form  it  is  of  eight  days'  continuance, 
and  during  this  period  everything  in  the  village  is  at 
a  standstill,  the  inhabitants  shutting  themselves  up 
from  all  intercourse  with  strangers.  .  .  .  The  pamali 
peniakit  is  also  undertaken  by  individuals  when  any 
member  of  the  family  is  sick ;  thus  parents  often  put 
themselves  under  its  regulations,  fondly  hoping  that 
by  denying  themselves  for  a  time  the  pleasures  of  inter- 
course with  their  fellow  creatures,  they  will  prevail 
upon  the  malignant  spirit,  which  is  supposed  to  have 
shed  its  withering  influence  over  their  offspring,  to 
restore  it  to  its  wonted  health  and  strength. 

of    the     Anthropological    Institute,  contributed  to  a  stricter  observance 

1893,    xxii,    24.     Many    primitive  of  the   rules   of  sexual    morality, 

peoples  are  accustomed  to  trace  a  both  among  the  married  and  the 

direct   connection   between   sexual  unmarried.     See    The    Magic    Art 

sins  and  the  welfare  of  the  crops.  and  the  Evolution  of  Kings,  London, 

As   Sir  James   Frazer  has   shown,  1911,  ii,  104-119. 
this  superstition  has  undoubtedly 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      37 

"The  pamali  omar,  or  taboo  on  the  farms,  occurs 
immediately  after  the  whole  of  the  seed  is  sown:  it 
lasts  four  days,  and  during  that  period,  no  person  of 
the  tribe  enters  any  of  the  plantations  on  any  account ; 
a  pig  and  feast  are,  according  to  their  practice,  also 
necessary.  The  proper  observance  of  these  various 
forms  of  pamali  is  probably  amongst  the  most  ancient 
of  their  customs,  and  was  practised  by  their  tribes 
previously  to  the  introduction  of  the  Hindu  religion."  1 
From  another  authority  we  learn  that  the  Land  Dyak 
recognize  a  variety  of  incidents,  more  or  less  inimical 
to  the  operations  of  farming,  which  suffice  to  impose 
taboos.  "If  the  basket  in  which  the  paddy  is  put  as  it 
is  cut  during  harvesting  be  upset,  that  farm  must  rest 
for  a  day,  and  a  fowl  must  be  killed,  or  all  their  paddy 
will  go  rotten.  If  a  tree  falls  across  the  farm-path, 
a  fowl  must  be  killed  on  the  spot,  and  the  path  be  dis- 
used for  one  day,  or  some  one  will  meet  with  an  acci- 
dent on  it.  ...  At  full  moon,  and  on  the  third  day 
after  it  (called  bubuk),  no  farm  work  may  be  done, 
unless  it  is  wished  that  the  paddy  should  be  devoured 
by  blight  and  mildew.  In  some  tribes  the  unlucky 
days  are  those  of  the  new  and  full  moon,  and  its  first 
and  third  quarters."  2 

In  the  course  of  an  excellent  study  of  the  Land 
Dyak  festivals,3  Mrs.  S.  B.  Scott  argues  that  they  are 
far  more  effective  as  social  observances  when  accom- 
panied by  the  various  taboos.  The  change  of  occupa- 
tions heightens  the  sacredness  of  the  feast,  and  also 
enables  all  the  inhabitants  of  a  village  to  join  in  the 
long,  elaborate  ritual.  At  the  same  time  the  closed 
house  prevents  intrusion  and  secures  the  presence  of 
every  member  of  the  community.  Furthermore,  the 

1  Sir  Hugh  Low,  Sarawak,  Lon-  2  William  Chalmers,  in  Roth,  op. 

don,  1848,  pp.  260-262.     See  also  cit.,  i,  401. 

Sir  Spenser  St.  John,  Life  in  the  3  Mrs.    S.    B.    Scott,    "Harvest 

Forests  of  the  Far  East,   London,  Festivals    of    the    Land    Dyaks," 

1862,    i,    175    sqq.     According    to  Journal   of  the   American   Oriental 

this  writer  porikh  is  the  Land  Dyak  Society,  1908,  xxix,  236-280. 
expression  equivalent  to  pamali. 


38  REST  DAYS 

prospect  of  feasting,  drinking,  and  general  excitement 
gives  an  added  zest  to  the  labours  of  the  Dyak  farmers. 
The  mid-harvest  festival,  when  this  is  celebrated,  af- 
fords a  much  needed  rest  from  the  heavy  work  of  har- 
vesting ;  and  the  last  and  greatest  of  the  festivals 
comes  as  a  natural  period  of  relaxation  after  the  long 
strain  of  toil  and  frugality  is  suddenly  relaxed.1 

That  in  actual  practice  the  Land  Dyak  observances 
have  this  outcome,  it  is  impossible  to  deny.  Yet  it 
must  be  noticed  that  similar  regulations  are  in  force 
on  other  and  quite  different  occasions.  As  we  have 
just  seen,  the  Land  Dyak  place  an  interdict,  twelve 
days  in  length,  upon  a  house  in  which  any  one  has  died ; 
the  same  event  also  causes  a  general  banning  of  the 
village  for  one  day  only.2  Childbirth  imposes  a  taboo 
of  eight  days'  duration  on  a  Land  Dyak  family ; 3 
in  this  case  the  regulation  does  not  appear  to  be  ex- 
tended to  the  community  at  large.  Sickness  is  another 
event  which  puts  a  family  under  the  ban ; 4  when  the 
sickness  assumes  an  epidemic  form  and  threatens  the 
general  well-being,  the  rule  of  abstinence  must  be 
observed  by  every  one  in  the  village.  Such  evidence 
from  the  Land  Dyak  customs,  confirmed  as  it  is  by 
the  facts  relating  to  the  customs  of  other  Bornean 
tribes,  clearly  illustrates  the  passage  of  individual 

1  Mrs.    S.    B.    Scott,    "  Harvest  provided  some  other  woman  begins 
Festivals    of    the    Land     Dyaks,"  the  work  for  her ;   and  the  husband 
Journal  of  the   American   Oriental  may  dig  a  trench  or  erect  a  post, 
Society  y  1908,  xxix,  244  sqq.  if  the  hands  of  others  are  first  set 

2  St.  John,  op.  cit.,  i,  163.  to  the  task.     Taboos  of  this  sort 

3  Ibid.,  i,   1 60.     The  Sea  Dyak  prevail  until  the  child  cuts  its  first 
make  an  interesting  distinction  be-  teeth    (F.   W.   Leggatt,   in    Roth, 
tween  mali  and  penti,  the  former  op.  cit.,  i,  98). 

absolutely  forbidding  certain  kinds  4  Sir  Hugh   Low  observes   that 

of  work  to  a  person  under  the  ban,  among  the  Land  Dyak  the  favourite 

the  latter  allowing  it  to  be  under-  remedies   for  the  cure  of  internal 

taken,  if  started  by  some  one  not  diseases   are   turmeric   and   spices, 

subject    to    the    taboo.     For    in-  taken    in    huge    quantities;     "but 

stance,    though    both    parents    are  for  anything  at  all  serious,  recourse 

penti  during  the  wife's  pregnancy,  is  had  to  the  pamali,  both  in  medi- 

the  expectant  mother  may  engage  cal  and  surgical  cases"   (Sarawak, 

in  basket-making  and  mat-weaving,  p.  308). 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL   EPOCHS      39 

taboos,  based  on  gross  superstition,  into  community 
ordinances  which  may  sometimes  have  a  real  justi- 
fication in  their  social  usefulness. 

These  Bornean  regulations  disclose  a  fairly  consist- 
ent effort  to  adjust  the  length  of  the  communal  taboo 
to  the  importance  of  the  event  which  it  commemorates. 
Thus,  housebuilding  imposes  a  shorter  season  of  ab- 
stinence than  does  planting  or  sowing ;  a  single  death 
in  the  village  may  require  the  cessation  of  activity  by 
the  inhabitants  for  only  one  day;  but  an  epidemic 
sickness  may  necessitate  a  three  days'  rest,  as  among  the 
Iban,  or  even  eight  days'  rest,  as  among  the  Land  Dyak. 
The  restrictions  themselves  appear  to  be  substantially 
the  same  in  all  instances:  the  inhabitants  "remain  in 
their  houses,  in  order  to  eat,  drink,  and  sleep ;  but 
their  eating  must  be  moderate,  and  often  consists  of 
nothing  but  rice  and  salt.  .  .  .  People  under  interdict 
may  not  bathe,  touch  fire,  or  employ  themselves  about 
their  ordinary  occupations."  1  To  these  prohibitions 
should  be  added  that  of  sexual  intercourse,  a  taboo 
specifically  mentioned  for  one  Bornean  tribe,  and 
probably  found  among  others.2 

The  close  resemblances,  even  in  details,  between  the 
communal  taboos  observed  in  different  parts  of  Borneo 
must,  unquestionably,  be  attributed  to  a  long-con- 
tinued process  of  diffusion  among  the  various  Indone- 

1  St.   John,   op.   cit.t   i,    175   sq.  voice  whether  there  is  no  taboo" 

(Land  Dyak).     Mr.  Charles  Hose  (L.  Nyuak,  in  Anthropos,  1906,  i, 

declares    that    at    such    times    the  175). 

inhabitants  of  a  Kayan  communal  2  The  Murik  on  the  Baram 
house  may  taboo  their  private  River,  a  community  of  hardworking 
rooms  to  the  other  inmates.  Small  farmers,  in  addition  to  the  corn- 
fines  are  imposed  for  infringing  the  munal  taboos  observed  by  them  at 
rule,  if  the  act  is  unintentional,  sowing,  also  keep  a  lemalli  of  seven 
but  when  a  man  forces  his  way  into  days,  when  the  paddy  crop  is  about 
a  tabooed  house,  a  serious  quarrel,  to  be  harvested.  "For  the  first 
ending  in  bloodshed,  may  result  three  days  of  this  no  one  stirs  out 
(Journal  of  the  Anthropological  of  the  house,  no  work  is  done, 
Institute,  1894,  xxiii,  170).  "It  is  and  no  sexual  intercourse  is  al- 
an  old  custom  among  the  Iban  for  lowed"  (R.  S.  Douglas,  in  Sarawak 
a  stranger,  before  climbing  the  Museum  Journal,  1911,  i,  146 
ladder  of  a  house,  to  ask  in  a  loud  sqq.). 


40  REST  DAYS 

sian  tribes.  These  taboos  have  not  been  found,  at 
any  rate  have  not  been  described,  among  the  nomadic 
hunting  tribes,  which  occupy  the  interior  parts  of 
Borneo  and  probably  represent  an  aboriginal  popu- 
lation. Though  our  knowledge  of  Bornean  ethnog- 
raphy is  still  very  imperfect,  there  seems  to  be  no 
doubt  that  the  present  Indonesian  inhabitants  are 
descended  from  immigrants  into  the  island  at  no  very 
remote  date.  We  are  justified,  therefore,  in  seeking 
a  foreign  source  for  various  elements  of  the  existing 
Bornean  culture.  In  particular,  the  practice  of  observ- 
ing communal  taboos,  in  its  rudiments,  if  not  in  its 
completely  developed  form,  may  reasonably  be  regarded 
as  an  importation  into  Borneo,  if  similar  customs  are 
found  to  prevail  among  other  Indonesian  peoples. 

Between  the  Andaman  Islands  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal 
and  the  northern  coast  of  Sumatra  lies  the  archipelago 
of  the  Nicobars.  The  inhabitants  appear  to  be  of 
Indonesian  type,  but  more  or  less  intermixed  with 
Malays  and  with  the  natives  of^  Burma  and  Siam.  In 
spite  of  the  labours  of  numerous  missionaries  the  Nico- 
barese  are  said  to  entertain  no  conception  of  a  Supreme 
Being  or  of  a  future  state.  They  have,  however,  a 
very  lively  belief  in  evil  spirits,  which  seem  to  be  chiefly 
the  ghosts  of  the  wicked.  These  malignant  beings, 
the  source  of  all  misfortune  and  disease,  are  propiti- 
ated with  offerings  or  driven  out  by  exorcisms.  On 
such  occasions  the  Nicobarese  hold  lengthy  festivals, 
some  of  which  are  accompanied  by  periods  of  com- 
munal abstinence.  The  native  name  for  these  en- 
forced rest  days  or  holidays  is  anoiila.1  Every  year  the 
inhabitants  of  Kar  Nicobar  observe  the  ceremony  of 
kataphang,  at  which  time  the  group  of  buildings,  called 
the  elpanam*  is  cleaned  out  and  purified  to  the  accom- 

1  See  below,  p.  165.  found    under    different    names    in 

2  The  elpanam  consists  of  several  many  of  the  East  Indian  islands, 
large  structures,  which  serve  as  a  and    even    more    widely.     See    H. 
guest-house  for  strangers  and  as  a  Webster,  Primitive  Secret  Societies, 
town-hall    for    feasts    and    public  New  York,  1908,  pp.  8  sqq. 
gatherings.     The      institution      is 


I 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      41 


paniment  of  much  singing  and  dancing.  When  this 
preliminary  work  is  done  and  the  rubbish  has  been  cast 
into  the  sea,  the  doors  of  the  houses  in  the  elpanam  are 
closed  and  the  people  return  to  their  private  abodes  in 
the  village.  "Silence  has  now  to  be  observed  for  a 
full  month ;  no  fire  or  light  may  be  seen ;  no  cheroot 
may  be  smoked.  Women  and  children  are  interdicted 
from  coming  to  the  elpanam,  and,  if  they  have  to  come 
during  the  night  on  urgent  affairs  (to  purchase  things), 
they  have  to  place  a  light  at  the  entrance  of  the  elpa- 
nam and  then  come  without  noise.  .  .  .  The  chief 
sufferers  by  this  festival  are  the  Burmans,  because  the 
people  cannot  supply  any  nuts  nor  can  they  work  in 
making  kopra,  for  the  reason  that  they  cannot  go  into 
the  jungle  to  fetch  nuts  nor  can  they  come  to  the 
elpanam"  The  natives  believe  that  during  this  time 
the  evil  spirits  from  the  jungle  visit  the  elpanam. 
When  the  month  is  up,  a  great  feast  is  given  to  the 
spirits  and  they  are  sent  back  to  the  jungle.1  Another 
Nicobar  festival  is  that  of  kiala.  The  word  means, 
properly,  "to  take  food."  The  kiala  is  celebrated  with 
much  feasting,  to  which  the  inhabitants  of  neighbouring 
communities  come  as  guests.  At  midday  a  cry  of 
supplication  is  heard  from  each  building:  "Let  our 
house  be  enriched  with  plenty  of  food.  Let  us  have 
many  eatable  things  from  other  villages.  Let  there 
come  new  women  to  our  villages.  Let  us  be  happy." 
Then  follow  in  regular  sequence  a  day  of  rest  —  anoi- 
ila  —  a  day  of  pig-hunting  in  the  jungle,  a  second 
anoiila,  and  a  second  day  of  pig-hunting.  One  more 
rest  day  ends  the  festival.2  The  exact  meaning  of  these 
observances  is  difficult  to  make  out. 

Very  similar  customs  have  been  found   among  the 

*V.  Solomon,  in  Journal  of  the  xxxii,    210;     Kloss,    op.    cit.,    pp. 

Anthropological      Institute,      1902,  297    sq.     Another    kiala    festival, 

xxxii,  215  sq.     See  also  C.  B.  Kloss,  also  followed  by  alternate  periods  ot 

In   the    Andamans    and    Nicobars,  rest  and  work,  appears  to  be  ob- 

London,  1903,  pp.  293  sqq.  served  in  connection  with  fishing 

2  V.  Solomon,  in  Journal  of  the  (Kloss,  op.  cit.,  p.  295). 
Anthropological      Institute,      1902, 


42  REST  DAYS 

people  of  Bali,  an  island  to  the  east  of  Java.  When 
the  Balinese  are  confronted  by  some  real  or  imaginary 
danger,  such  as  an  epidemic,  an  earthquake,  or  a  lunar 
eclipse,  they  at  once  take  measures  to  drive  away  the 
evil  spirits,  or  buta,  which  have  caused  the  ominous 
event.  This  praiseworthy  object  is  supposed  to  be 
accomplished  partly  by  verbal  commands  "go  away! 
go  away!"  addressed  to  the  buta,  partly  by  means  of 
an  unearthly  uproar  of  shouting  and  knocking.  Then 
follow  two  days  of  absolute  silence,  the  stillness  of  the 
grave.  During  this  period,  known  as  sepi,  no  one 
ventures  out  of  doors  and  no  strangers  are  admitted 
to  the  village.  Even  the  usual  domestic  work,  includ- 
ing cooking,  is  discontinued.  The  interdict  against 
all  activity  is  lifted  on  the  third  day,  but  even  then 
work  in  the  rice-fields  and  buying  and  selling  in  the 
market  are  forbidden.  The  evil  spirits,  it  is  believed, 
would  like  to  return  at  once  to  their  old  haunts,  hence 
they  must  be  led  to  think  that  Bali  is  not  Bali,  but 
some  uninhabited  island.1  This  period  of  quiescence 
is  clearly  a  means  of  avoiding  contact  with  the  ghostly 
powers.  The  reason  given  for  abstaining  from  activ- 
ity —  to  make  the  spirits  suppose  that  Bali  is  not  Bali 
—  may  be  taken  as  a  nai've  effort  to  explain  a  custom 
no  longer  understood.  The  Balinese  have  also  a 
New  Year's  festival,  which  shows  the  influence  of 
Buddhism  in  the  date  chosen  for  its  observance,  the 
first  five  weeks  of  the  Buddhist  year.  "At  this  time 
the  gods  are  supposed  to  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  the 
pitara  especially  return  to  the  bosoms  of  their  families  ; 
hence  the  constant  offerings  and  the  incessant  games 
and  amusements,  which  are  regarded  as  necessary  less 
for  the  living  generation  than  for  the  pitara  and  gods 
sojourning  among  them;  hence  also  the  cessation 
from  work  and  the  disinclination  to  intercourse  with 
foreigners  during  this  period.  Trade  and  foreigners 

1  R.  van  Eck,  in  Tijdschrift  voor      reproduced  by  J.  Jacobs,  Eenigen 
Nederlandsch-Indie,  1879,  n.s.,  viii,      tijd    onder    de     Baliers,     Batavia, 
Eck's     account    is       1883,  pp.  190  sqq. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      43 

are  not  agreeable  to  the  pitara,  who  desire  to  see  the 
old  institutions  and  usages  faithfully  preserved." 

In  the  island  of  Nias,  lying  off  the  western  coast  of 
Sumatra,  the  news  of  an  epidemic  sickness  will  cause 
a  quarantine  to  be  established  in  every  community, 
not  only  against  the  inhabitants  of  the^infected  village, 
but  against  all  strangers  without  discrimination.  The 
quarantine  lasts  for  eight  days.2  Probably  this  taboo 
is  observed  on  other  occasions,  as  seems  to  be  the  case 
with  the  inhabitants  of  the  Pagi  Islands,  which  form 
the  southern  extension  of  the  Mentawi  group.  These 
islanders  are  scarcely  above  the  level  of  culture  reached 
by  Bornean  tribes :  they  live  in  large  communal 
houses,  practise  tattooing  assiduously,  and  worship 
the  evil  spirits  which  manifest  their  power  in  thunder 
and  lightning,  earthquakes,  tornadoes,  and  floods. 
The  natives,  at  certain  times,  are  said  to  remain^  in 
their  villages  and  to  exclude  all  strangers.  During 
this  period  of  separation  from  the  world  they  may 
neither  give  nor  receive  anything,  they  must  refrain 
from  eating  certain  articles  of  food,  and  they  may  not 
engage  in  trade.3  A  very  competent  observer,  who 
has  made  a  special  study  of  the  taboo  system  in  the 
Mentawi  Islands,  describes  the  seasons  of  restriction 
found  there  under  the  name  of  pundn.  The  "great" 
pundn  arises  from  any  circumstance  which  vitally 
affects  the  welfare  of  a  community :  when^  a  chief 
erects  a  house  for  himself,  when  a  village"  is  visited  by 
an  epidemic,  or  when  a  cocoanut-palm  is  overthrown 
by  some  force  majeure.  Similarly,  the  inauguration 
of  a  superior  chief  or  the  choice  of  a  priest  requires 
the  imposition  of  a  "great"  pundn.  The  same  pro- 
pitiatory usage  becomes  necessary  when  a  villager  has 
been  killed  by  a  crocodile.  The  "little"  pundn  relates 

!R.  Friederich,  'm  Journal  of  the  der  Niasser,"    Tijdschrift  voor  in- 
Royal   Asiatic    Society,    1877,    n.s.,  dische      taal-land-en      volkenkunde, 
ix,  77.     On  the  petara  see  above,  1890,  xxxm,  486  sqq.  m 
p   35  nz                                                         3  Hinlopen    and    Severm,    ibid., 

2  F.  Kramer,  "Der  Gotzendienst  1855,  iii,  329  W 


44  REST  DAYS 

rather  to  individuals  and  to  families.  Many  are  the 
occasions  when  it  is  imposed  —  at  house-building,  at 
the  setting-out  of  a  garden,  at  boat-making,  and  when 
a  native  leaves  his  village  to  settle  elsewhere.  The 
"little"  pundn  is  especially  obligatory  for  women 
during  pregnancy,  at  birth,  and  for  eight  months 
thereafter.  It  occurs  also  as  an  accompaniment  of 
marriage,  when  there  is  sickness  in  a  family,  and  when 
some  member  of  the  household  has  died.  All  crises 
in  the  communal  and  individual  life  of  the  Mentawi 
Islanders  are  thus  kept  as  periods  of  restriction ;  in 
some  cases,  however,  these  rest  days  have  become  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  festivals  and  holidays.1 

The  wild  and  little-known  aborigines  of  Formosa, 
who  are  probably  of  Indonesian  origin,  appear  to  pos- 
sess similar  customs.  Of  them  it  is  said,  generally, 
that  "great  fasts  are  held  after  a  sickness  or  when  any 
of  the  tribe  have  been  killed.  At  such  times  they  will 
be  silent,  and  will  only  eat  sufficient  food  to  maintain 
life." 2  Another  traveller  refers  to  these  communal 
fast  days  under  the  native  name  of  hiang,  and  adds 
the  further  fact  that  at  such  times  strangers  are  ex- 
cluded from  the  village.3  A  very  intelligent  observer, 
describing  the  superstitions  of  the  Peiwan,  mentions 
a  curious  custom  according  to  which  "one  who  has 
unpleasant  dreams  must  confine  himself  to  his  house 
for  the  day." 4  This  very  scanty  information  will 
doubtless  be  supplemented  by  much  more  evidence, 
when  the  Formosan  tribes  have  been  scientifically 
studied. 

The  Philippine  Archipelago  contains  a  great  number 

1  A.       Maass,       "  Ta-kd-kdi-kdi  3  W.  Joest,  in  Verhandlungen  der 
tabu,"    Zeitschrift   fur    Ethnologie,  Berliner    Gesellschaft    fur    Anthro- 
1905,  xxxvii,  155  sq.     The  greater  pologie,     Ethnologic,      und      Urge- 
part  of  this  valuable  article  is  con-  schichte,  1882,  p.  [(62)  (bound  with 
cerned  with  the  analogies  between  Zeitschrift  fur  Ethnologie,  vol.  xiv) . 
the  taboo  system  in  the  Mentawi  4  G.  Taylor,  in  Proceedings  of  the 
Islands    and    related    systems    in  Royal   Geographical   Society,    1889, 
Indonesia  and  Polynesia.  n.s.,  xi,   233;    idem,   "Folklore  of 

2  W.  A.  Pickering,  Pioneering  in  Aboriginal      Formosa,"      Folk-lore 
Formosa,  London,  1898,  p.  71.  Journal,  1887,  v,  150. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      45 

of  Indonesian  tribes,  among  which  are  the  Subanu  of 
Mindanao,  a  mountain  people  occupying  the  interior 
portions  of  the  Zamboanga  District,  where  they  have 
taken  refuge  from  the  raids  of  their  hereditary  enemies, 
the  Moros  and  Filipinos.  The  Subanu  are  described 
as  a  suspicious  and  superstitious  people  with  a  pro- 
nounced belief  in  spirits  —  both  good  and  evil.  Cere- 
monies of  propitiation  accompany  all  important  un- 
dertakings, such  as  the  clearing  of  a  new  plantation, 
the  building  of  a  house,  the  beginning  of  a  journey, 
hunting,  and  the  harvesting  of  the  crops.  Festivals 
are  held  to  propitiate  these  spirits,  or  to  celebrate  some 
event  in  which  an  entire  settlement  is  interested. 
From  the  following  account  it  would  seem  that  the 
custom  of  communal  abstinence  is  frequently  observed 
by  the  Subanu.  "In  contending  against  the  difficulties 
of  their  settlement  life  the  Subanu  have  gradually 
adopted  an  eifective  quarantine  service  against  the 
spread  of  infectious  diseases  like  smallpox,  measles, 
and  cholera.  Upon  the  appearance  of  the  first  case 
among  any  of  the  settlement  families,  the  timuai 
[communal  chief]  orders  the  establishment  of  the  signals 
of  quarantine,  and  these  are  quickly  provided.  Fences 
of  poles  and  split  bamboo,  or  bejuco,  are  erected  across 
the  main  trails  leading  to  the  houses  of  the  settlement. 
On  these  fences  are  placed,  in  fixed  positions,  carved 
imitations  of  war  weapons,  such  as  spears,  kampilan, 
barong,  and  piray  pointed  outward  to  warn  the  approach- 
ing stranger  or  visitor  to  remain  away.  It  is  a  notice 
that  death  will  be  visited  upon  the  person  who  attempts 
to  enter  the  settlement  while  the  scourge  of  disease 
prevails.  .  .  .  Near  the  signal  fences  are  erected 
light  wooden  stands  with  offerings  of  various  articles 
of  food  to  appease  the  wrath  of  the  gods  and  cause 
them  to  assist  in  extirpating  the  disease.  Small  sheds 
are  also  sometimes  erected  near  the  stands,  under 
which  guards  may  be  stationed  to  prevent  the  food 
from  being  taken  by  wild  animals,  birds,  and  mis- 
chievous persons.  But  the  guards  go  to  sleep  and  the 


46  REST  DAYS 

food  (cooked  rice,  boiled  eggs,  fruit,  tobacco,  betel- 
nut,  cooked  chicken,  etc.)  disappears,  whereupon  the 
guards  report  that  diuata  (god)  has  accepted  the  gifts 
and  will  drive  away  the  disease.  Superstition  and 
good  sense  are  strangely  but  effectively  mingled  in 
this  scheme  of  practical  and  efficacious  quarantine ; 
and  the  Subanu  stand  alone  among  all  the  tribes  and 
peoples  of  Mindanao  in  devising  and  operating  such 
protective  measures."  l 

Another  Indonesian  people  of  the  Philippines  are 
the  Bontoc  Igorot,  a  non-Christian  folk  dwelling  in 
northern  Luzon.  They  are  mountain  farmers  and 
live  in  towns  made  up  of  political  divisions,  or  atoy 
analogous  to  the  wards  of  an  American  city.  The 
business  of  each  ato  is  conducted  by  a  council  of  elders. 
These  Bontoc  Igorot  observe  a  sacred  rest  day,  called 
tengao.2  It  occurs,  on  an  average,  about  every  ten 
days  during  the  year,  though  not  with  absolute  regu- 
larity. Three  men,  belonging  to  what  might  be  de- 
scribed as  a  hereditary  priesthood,  fix  the  time  for 
the  tengao,  as  for  all  other  ceremonials  of  the  pueblo. 
They  then  inform  the  elders  of  each  ato,  who,  in  turn, 
make  a  public  announcement  on  the  evening  preced- 
ing the  day.  "The  small  boys,  however,  are  the 
true  'criers.'  They  make  more  noise  in  the  evening 
before  the  rest  day,  crying  Teng-ao  I  whi  teng-ao! 
('  Rest  day !  hurrah !  rest  day ! ')  than  I  have  heard 
from  the  pueblo  at  any  other  time."  The  tengao 
appears  to  be  marked  by  the  cessation  of  agricultural 
work,  but  not  by  abstinence  from  all  activity.  "If 
a  person  goes  to  labour  in  the  fields  on  a  sacred  day  — - 
not  having  heard  the  announcement,  or  in  disregard 
of  it — -  he  is  fined  for  'breaking  the  Sabbath."  The 
lawbreaker  has  to  surrender  firewood  or  rice  or  a  small 

*J.     P.     Finley     and     William  W.  C.  Clapp,    "A   Vocabulary   of 

Churchill,  The  Subanu,  Washington,  the  Igorot  Language,"  Bureau  of 

1913,  pp.  31  sq.  Science,  Division  of  Ethnology,  Pub- 

2  The  word  is  also  spelled  tengau  lications,  Manila,  1908,  v,  198. 
and     translated     "holiday."      See 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      47 


chicken  to  the  value  of  about  ten  cents,  or  the  wage 
of  two  days.  The  fines  are  then  expended  in  buying 
chickens  and  pigs  for  certain  religious  ceremonies, 
known  as  patay.  These  rites  are  performed  every 
new  moon  for  the  general  well-being  of  the  pueblo.1 
We  are  further  told  that  the  rest  days  are  selected  in 
order  that  "such  intimate,  important  interests  as 
agriculture  and  beneficial  weather  may  be  given  the 
amount  of  attention  they  deserve.  The  people  have 
no  calendar  for  succeeding  ceremonial  observances,  so 
a  priesthood  has  developed  to  fix  such  days  at  the  oppor- 
tune time  when  needed.  They  are  sacred  because 
all  petitions  are  made  to  Lumawig  their  god,  a  living 
spirit,  hero,  and  benefactor."  2 

There  seems  to  be  every  reason  for  supposing  that 
this  remarkable  institution  of  an  almost  periodic 
Sabbath  is  of  native  origin.  The  Bontoc  Igorot  dwell 
in  a  remote  and  inaccessible  region ;  and  they  are  a 
fairly  primitive  people  whose  religious  ideas  have  been 
unaffected  by  either  Christianity  or  Mohammedanism. 
The  tengao  itself  is  apparently  confined  to  this  single 
tribe  of  northern  Luzon.  At  the  same  time  the  sacred 
rest  day  does  not  stand  without  relation  to  the  other 
observances  of  the  Igorot.  Like  the  Bornean  tribes 
they  have  a  number  of  agricultural  ceremonies,  reli- 
gious in  character,  and  designed  to  secure  an  abundant 
harvest.  Some  of  these  ceremonies  are  accompanied 
by  periods  of  rest.  Every  year,  on  the  occasion  when 
camotes  are  planted,  the  pueblo  priest  kills  a  chicken 
or  a  pig,  and  petitions  Lumawig  for  so  many  camotes 
"that  the  ground  will  crack  and  burst  open."  This 
rite  takes  place  in  the  fifth  period  of  the  Igorot  year, 
called  baliling.  A  similar  rite  is  performed  when 
black  beans  are  planted.  The  end  of  baliling  (about 

JA.  E.  Jenks,  "The  Bontoc  1911,  Professor  Jenks  writes,  "I 

Igorot,"  Ethnological  Survey  Publi-  believe  the  rest  days  are  first  for 

cations,  Manila,  1905,  i,  205  sqq.  the  purpose  of  having  time  for 

2  From  a  letter  to  the  author,  religious  observances  —  this  fact 

dated  December  10,  1910.  In  a  necessitated  the  rest.  I  never 

second  letter,  under  date  March  8,  proved  this  point,  however." 


48  REST  DAYS 

the  first  of  September)  is  marked  by  a  three  days' 
rest,  known  as  kopus.  At  this  time  one  of  the  priests 
charged  with  the  performance  of  the  patay  rite  addresses 
a  short  supplication  to  Lumawig  and  then  solemnly 
kills  a  chicken.  It  is  a  critical  moment  for  the  people 
of  the  pueblo.  Should  the  gall  of  the  fowl  be  found 
white  or  whitish,  this  means  that  disaster  will  over- 
take the  community.  But  a  gall  with  a  dark  green 
colour  implies  that  the  spirit  enemies  of  Bontoc  are  not 
revengeful  and  that  the  pueblo  will  enjoy  prosperity. 
Another  occasion  when  the  Igorot  rests  from  labour 
comes  at  the  fakil  ceremony  for  rain.  It  occurs  four 
times  each  year,  on  four  succeeding  days,  and  is  per- 
formed by  four  different  priests.  There  is  the  usual 
sacrifice  of  a  pig  by  the  priest,  and  each  night,  just 
before  this  rite  takes  place,  all  the  people  cry  I-teng-ao 
ta-ko  nan  ja-kil'  /,  an  expression  meaning,  "Rest 
day!  We  observe  the  ceremony  for  rain!"1  These 
and  other  instances  cited  by  Professor  Jenks  indicate 
clearly  that  the  Igorot  festivals  are  intended  to  pro- 
pitiate evil-minded  spirits  and  to  secure  material 
blessings  from  Lumawig,  the  supreme  being.2  The 
evidence  from  Borneo  and  other  regions  suggests 
that  here  in  Luzon  the  rest  accompanying  some  of  the 
festivals  has  likewise  a  propitiatory  character,  quite 
as  much  as  the  prayers  and  sacrifices.  The  same 
interpretation  would  accordingly  apply  to  the  tengao, 
though  that  day  seems  now  to  be  regarded  in  some 
degree  as  a  holiday.  Furthermore,  the  conjecture  is 
plausible  that  the  tengao  in  its  earlier  form  was  not  a 
periodic  but  an  occasional  observance,  called  forth 
only  by  particular  emergencies  in  the  communal  life. 
The  present  form  of  this  institution  gives  evidence  of 
a  tendency,  doubtless  directed  by  the  Igorot  priest- 
hood, to  calendarize  seasons  of  taboo  at  definite  and 
regular  intervals.  And  the  dedication  of  this  "Sab- 

1  Jenks,  op.  cit.,  p.  213.  family  to  appease  or  win  the  good 

"  It  is  safe  to  say  that  one  feast      will  of  some  anito  [ancestral  spirit] " 
is  held  daily  in  Bontoc  by  some      (Jenks,  op.  cit.,  p.  198). 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      49 

bath"  to  Lumawig  may  be  only  a  natural  outcome  of 
the  preeminence  assigned  to  that  supreme  god,  who 
stands  out  in  such  bold  relief  against  the  crowd  of 
ancestral  spirits,  good  and  bad,  investing  the  Igorot 
world.1 

The  foregoing  examples  suffice  to  show  how  numer- 
ous are  the  occasions  on  which  the  natives  of  Indonesia 
subject  themselves  to  the  rule  of  abstinence.  Assum- 
ing, with  modern  ethnographers,  that  the  Indonesian 
peoples  represent  an  admixture  in  various  proportions 
of  primitive  Indian  and  southern  Mongolian  stocks, 
we  need  not  be  surprised  to  discover  that  in  certain 
parts  of  southeastern  Asia,  and  notably  among  the 
Tibeto-Burman  tribes  of  Assam  and  Burma,  there 
flourishes  a  system  of  communal  regulations  strikingly 
similar  to  those  which  have  just  been  described. 

The  Naga  tribes,  who  are  said  to  resemble  more 
closely  the  natives  of  the  Indian  Archipelago  than 
any  of  the  other  peoples  occupying  the  hills  of  Assam, 
apply  the  name  genna 2  to  their  system  of  taboos.3 
The  following  description  refers  particularly  to  the 
Naga  of  Manipur.  Here,  as  in  Borneo,  the  regular 
communal  taboos  are  for  the  most  part  connected 

1  Some,  if  not  all,  of  the  Igorot  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  In- 
peoples  of  northern  Luzon  are  stitute,  1906,  xxxvi,  92-103 ;  idem, 
familiar  with  the  idea  of  taboo  as  "Some  Naga  Customs  and  Super- 
applied  to  individuals  or  to  families  stitions,"  Folk-lore,  1910,  xxi,  296- 
at  certain  critical  times.  The  312;  idem,  "Genna,"  Encyclopedia 
Ibaloi  Igorot  equivalent  of  taboo  is  Britannica,11  xi,  596;  idem,  The 
pidiu.  A  man,  while  in  the  pecul-  Naga  Tribes  of  Manipur,  London, 
iarly  solemn  condition  of  pidiu,  1911,  pp.  164-186. 
"must  not  bathe,  must  not  admit  3  "  The  word  genna  is  used  in  two 
visitors  into  his  house,  and  must  ways:  (i)  it  may  mean  practically 
not  work,  travel,  etc./*  under  pen-  a  holiday  —  i.e.,  a  man  will  say, 
alty  of  punishment  by  the  making,  'My  village  is  doing  genna  to-day,' 
or  departed  souls,  for  transgression  by  which  he  means  that,  owing 
of  the  regulations  (O.  Scheerer,  either  to  the  occurrence  of  a  village 
"The  Nabaloi  Dialect,"  Ethnologi-  festival  or  some  such  unusual 
cal  Survey  Publications,  Manila,  occurrence  ...  his  people  are  ob- 
1905,  ii,  167).  But  these  prohibi-  serving  a  holiday ;  (2)  genna  means 
tions  do  not  seem  to  be  socialized.  anything  forbidden"  (A.  W.  Davis, 

2T.    C.    Hodson,    "The    genna  in  Census  of  India,  1891,  Assam, 

amongst    the    Tribes    of   Assam,"  i,  249). 


50  REST  DAYS 

with  the  crops.  Every  stage  of  the  rice  cultivation 
is  marked  by  a  village  genna,  the  duration  of  which 
varies.  Thus,  among  the  Mao  Naga  the  rice-sowing 
necessitates  a  ten  days'  genna,  the  transplanting  of 
the  rice  calls  for  only  one  day  of  restriction,  the  begin- 
ning of  the  harvest  for  four  days,  and  the  harvest 
home  for  ten  days.  At  such  times  the  village  gates 
are  shut  and  neither  egress  nor  ingress  is  allowed. 
"Among  all  these  tribes  from  the  day  of  the  first  crop 
genna  to  the  final  harvest  home  all  other  forms  of  indus- 
try and  activity  are  forbidden.  All  hunting,  fishing, 
tree-  and  grass-cutting,  all  weaving,  pot-making,  salt- 
working,  games  of  all  kinds,  bugling,  dancing,  all 
trades  are  strictly  forbidden  —  are  genna  —  lest  the 
grain  in  the  ear  be  lost."  1 

It  is  obvious  that  some  of  these  taboos  tend,  indi- 
rectly, to  produce  beneficial  effects.  The  prohibition 
of  all  labour,  except  agricultural,  during  the  season  of 
rice-planting  and  harvesting  permits  the  inhabitants 
of  a  village  to  devote  their  time  and  attention  solely 
to  the  care  of  the  crops.  And  the  practical  result 
of  the  taboo  against  hunting  is  to  provide  a  much- 
needed  close  season  for  wild  animals,  "for  these  sports- 
men spare  not  the  game."  It  is  equally  obvious, 
however,  that  the  regulations  in  question  have  had  no 
utilitarian  origin.  Identical  taboos  are  imposed  on 
a  great  variety  of  other  occasions.  A  rain-compelling 
ceremony,  when  the  headman  works  magic  for  the 
benefit  of  the  entire  village,  is  accompanied  by  a  genna. 
General  genna  are  also  proclaimed  after  the  occurrence 
of  unusual  phenomena,  such  as  earthquakes,  eclipses 

1  Hodson,  Naga  Tribes,  pp.  167  business,   but   among  the  Meithei, 

sq.     Among  some  of  the  Manipuri  the    Hinduised    neighbours  of  the 

Naga  the  various  genna  are  marked  Naga,  the  tug-of-war  has  dwindled 

by  rope-pulling  contests,  when  the  into  a  mere  pastime   (Hodson,  in 

women  and  girls  have  a  tug-of-war  Folk-lore,  1910,  xxi,  300).     On  the 

with  the  men.     This  is  described  as  magical  significance  of  the  games 

a  means  of  taking  omens  for  the  played   by  the   Kayan   of  Borneo 

future  of  the  crops  (ibid.,  p.  168).  during  their    periods  of  seclusion, 

The  Naga  ceremonial  is  a  serious  see  above,  p.  31  n.1 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      51 

of  the  sun  or  moon,  and  the  appearance  of  comets. 
These  events  are  attributed  to  supernatural  activity.1 
The  destruction  of  a  village  by  fire  occasions  a  general 
genna,  sometimes  for  three  days,  before  any  steps  are 
taken  to  rebuild  the  houses.  Such  an  event  indicates 
that  spirits  inimical  to  the  people  are  about  and  active ; 
consequently  the  mere  sight  of  the  burning  of  a  neigh- 
bouring village  is  enough  to  require  the  imposition  of 
a  genna?1  The  outbreak  of  epidemic  sickness  necessi- 
tates a  genna,  the  purpose  of  which  is  clearly  prophy- 
lactic. Animal  sacrifices  of  a  propitiatory  nature  are 
made  at  such  times.  Some  of  the  Mao  Naga  even 
hold  a  regular  village  genna,  as  a  means  of  preventing 
all  sickness  during  the  year,  while  the  Kabui  Naga 
observe  an  annual  genna  in  order  to  protect  themselves 
from  being  hurt  by  bamboos.  The  occurrence  of 
mysterious  cases  of  death  requires  a  genna,  for  the 
purpose  of  separating  the  living  as  soon  as  possible 
from  the  dangerous  dead ;  in  the  Mao  group  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  hold  a  village  genna  when  a  villager  dies, 
irrespective  of  the  immediate  cause  of  his  decease.3 
All  the  Naga  communities  hold  a  genna  devoted  to  the 
praiseworthy  object  of  finally  laying  to  rest  the  ghosts 
of  those  who  have  died  during  the  preceding  year.  The 
rite  takes  place  at  the  time  of  cold  weather,  after  the 
crops  have  been  reaped.  At  this  annual  festival, 
"they  restore  to  the  living  those  of  their  members 
who  have  been  in  jeopardy  of  the  contagion  of  death."  4 
Communal  genna  are  also  enforced  in  connection  with 
the  first  death  in  the  year  of  any  domestic  animals  ; 
on  the  return  to  the  village  of  a  party  of  warriors  with 
human  heads  taken  in  a  foray;  when  a  python --a 
serpent  closely  associated  with  sickness  --is  killed  and 
eaten  ;  during  the  deliberations  of  the  village  council ; 

1  Hodson,  Naga  Tribes,  pp.  166  festival  occurs  on  the  night  of  the 
sq.,  175.  December  new  moon.     The  shades 

2  Ibid,,  pp.  109,  167,  175.  of  the  dead  are  supposed  to  visit 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  166  sq.y  173.  the    living    at    this    time    (S.    E. 

4  Ibid.,    pp.    151    sq.y    174.     Ac-  Peal,  in  Zeitschrift  fur  Ethnologic, 
cording    to    another    account    the  1898,  xxx,  355). 


52  REST  DAYS 

and  also  when  a  man  rashly  allows  his  private  or  secret 
name  to  be  mentioned  in  public.1  We  may  agree 
with  an  early  writer,  who,  commenting  on  these  prac- 
tices among  the  Angami  Naga,  remarks  that  there  is 
"no  end  to  the  reasons  on  which  a  kennie  must  or  may 
be  declared,  and  as  it  consists  of  a  general  holiday 
when  no  work  is  done,  this  Angami  Sabbath  appears 
to  be  rather  a  popular  institution."  2 

A  survey  of  these  Naga  ordinances  indicates  that 
here  in  Assam  they  have  much  the  same  purpose  as  in 
other  regions  :  they  are  protective  and  conciliatory ; 
to  a  certain  extent  they  are  even  compelling,  in  so  far 
as  the  observance  of  the  taboos  is  supposed  to  prevent 
the  evil  spirits  from  inflicting  further  harm.  The 
coercive  quality  of  a  genna  is  also  illustrated  by  the 
idea  that,  while  the  ill  effects  of  an  interruption  of  a 
village  ceremony  are  sometimes  irremediable,  there  are 
other  cases  where  a  repetition  of  the  rite  is  enough  to 
avert  all  disastrous  consequences.3  It  is  to  be  observed, 
furthermore,  that  all  genna  are  declared  and  supervised 
by  the  khullakpa,  the  secular  and  religious  head  of  the 
village.  He  acts  in  a  representative  capacity,  when- 
ever a  rite  is  to  be  performed  which  requires  the  whole 
force  of  the  community  behind  it,  a  force  which  oper- 
ates through  him.  "These  village  genna"  declares 
Mr.  Hodson,  "seem  in  many  cases  to  be  inspired  by 
the  belief  that  man,  the  man,  the  khullakpa,  when  forti- 
fied by  the  whole  strength  and  will  of  the  village,  is 

1  Hodson,  op.  cit.f  pp.  109,  144,  moon  of  the  lunar  year  (D.  Pram, 

I73>    I75  S9'     The  Naga  west  of  in    Revue    coloniale    Internationale, 

the  Doyang  River  are  said  to  have  1887,  v,  489). 

a  genna  also  at  the  annual  cere-  2  John  Butler,  in  Journal  of  the 

mony  of  making  new  fire  for  the  Asiatic    Society    of   Bengal,    1875, 

village.     The    fire,     produced     by  n.s.,    xlv,    i,    316.     This    observer 

friction,   is   first   used   in   burning  describes  the  kennie  as  a  system  of 

down  the  jungle  before  the  sowing  taboo,  "singularly  similar  to  that 

of  the  crops  (W.  Crooke,  Natives  in  vogue  among  the  savages  inhab- 

of  Northern  India,  London,   1907,  iting  the  Pacific  islands." 
p.  45;    E.  T.   Dalton,  Descriptive  3  Hodson,  Naga  Tribes,  p.  167, 

Ethnology  of  Bengal,  Calcutta,  1872,  citing  C.  A.  Soppitt,  Account  of  the 

E-  43)-     The  Angami  Naga  mark  Kachcha  Ndgas,  p.  10. 
y  a  three  days'  genna  the  first  full 


* 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      53 

able  to  control  and  constrain  forces  which  are  beyoncT 
his    control    if    unaided.     He    relies    on    cooperative 
strength."  l 

In  addition  to  the  village  genna  the  Naga  are  subject 
to  numerous  regulations  which  affect  individuals  or 
families  only,  and  do  not  extend  to  the  community 
at  large.  Household  genna  are  occasioned  by  such 
events  as  the  birth  of  children  or  of  domesticated 
animals,  the  first  hair-cutting  and  ear-piercing,  the 
naming  of  children,  and  finally  the  death  of  domesti- 
cated animals  in  the  house.  The  restrictions  apply  to 
all  who  are  normally  inmates  of  the  house,  and  to  any 
others,  such  as  midwives,  who  may  be  temporarily 
members  of  the  family.  The  duration  of  these  genna 
varies  not  only  from  tribe  to  tribe  but  also  from  vil- 
lage to  village.  The  Mayang  Khong  Naga,  in  partic- 
ular, have  worked  out  an  elaborate  scale  for  genna 
following  the  birth  of  domestic  animals.  "When  a 
cow  calves,  the  genna  lasts  for  five  days ;  when  a  sow 
litters,  three  days'  genna  is  necessary;  while  when  a 
bitch  has  pups,  or  a  cat  has  kittens,  two  days  are 
ample.  A  hen  hatching  out  a  brood  of  chickens  brings 
on  a  genna  of  one  day."  2  Such  observances  may 
be  said  to  mark  the  acme  of  the  Naga  taboo  system, 
or,  from  another  point  of  view,  to  reduce  it  to  an  ab- 
surdity. 

The  genna  custom,  which  seems  to  have  attained 
its  most  complicated  and  grotesque  development 

1  Hodson,  op.  cit.,  p.  141.  The  taboos  imposed  by  him  would  be 
khullakpa,  also  called  gennabura,  or  obliged  to  pay  a  fine,  the  proceeds 
"authorizer  of  genna,"  is  himself  being  used  to  provide  a  sub- 
subject  to  a  number  of  vexatious  stantial  repast  for  the  village 
restrictions  designed  to  prevent  any  elders  (Hodson,  in  Journal  of  the 
impairment  of  the  efficiency  of  his  Anthropological  Institute,  1901,  xxxi, 
sacred  office.  On  these  taboos  see  307). 

below,  pp.  233  sq.     It  is  worthy  of  2  Hodson,  Naga  Tribes,  pp.  177, 

note  that  the  khullakpa  enjoys  a  180.     The  Naga  of  eastern  Assam 

good    deal    of    indirect    authority  strictly  taboo  a  house  where  tattoo- 

because   of  his   power   to   close   a  ing  is  being  done  (W.  H.  Furness, 

village   and   declare   a  genna.     An  3d.,    in   Journal   of  the   Anthropo- 

individual  who  violated  any  of  the  logical  Institute,  1902,  xxxii,  466). 


54  REST  DAYS 

among  the  Naga,  prevails,  or  in  the  past  has  prevailed, 
throughout  a  wide  area  of  Assam.  The  Hinduised 
Meithei  of  Manipur,  whose  affinity  to  the  wild  hill 
tribes  such  as  the  Naga  and  Kuki  is  admitted,  no  longer 
possess  the  custom  itself,  though  preserving  the  memory 
of  it  in  their  word  namungba,  or  taboo.1  General 
seasons  of  restriction  seem  to  be  unknown  among  the 
Khasi,  who  inhabit  the  Khasi  and  Jaintia  hills,  except 
in  a  single  instance.2  Their  neighbours  on  the  west, 
the  Garo,  a  people  of  Tibeto-Burman  stock,  have  the 
equivalent  of  genna  in  the  word  marang,  conveying 
the  ideas  of  "unlucky"  and  "unlawful."  But  the 
Garo  custom  itself  is  scarcely  socialized  :  the  taboos 
relate  to  individuals,  and  in  only  one  case  extend 
to  the  community  at  large.  This  is  the  prohibition 
for  any  one  in  a  village  to  labour  in  the  fields  on  the  day 
when  a  child  is  born.  It  is  believed  that  should  a  farm 
be  visited  at  such  a  time  the  crop  would  be  cursed  and 
blighted.3  Another  Tibeto-Burman  people,  the  Mikir, 
who  dwell  in  the  Mikir  Hills  to  the  northwest  of  Mani- 
pur, have  individual  taboos  of  various  kinds  and,  in 
addition,  a  compulsory  village  festival  called  rongker. 
It  is  held  annually  at  the  beginning  of  cultivation. 
At  this  time  the  gods  are  invoked  for  good  crops,  good 
health,  and  preservation  from  tigers.  There  is  no 
music  or  dancing  during  the  festival.4  The  genna 
exists  among  the  Mishmi  and  Abor  on  the  frontiers  of 
northeastern  Assam  and  Tibet.5  The  Lushei  (some- 
times called  Kuki)  of  the  Lushei  Hills  to  the  south  of 

1T.  C.   Hodson,    The  Meitheis,  4  Edward    Stack,    The    Mikirs, 

London,   1908,  p.   118.     It  is  sig-  edited  by  Sir  Charles  Lyall,  Lon- 

nificant  that  the  Moirang,  a  more  don,  1908,  p.  43. 

or    less     backward     and     isolated  5  Hodson,   Naga    Tribes,   p.   20. 

Meithei  tribe,  still  keep  up  some-  The  Mishmi  have  household  genna 

thing  like  a  system  of  communal  whenever  the  members  of  a  family 

genna  connected  with  agricultural  are  visited  by  illness  or  misfortune 

operations  (ibid.,  p.  119).  of  any   kind.     Possibly   there   are 

2  P.  R.  T.  Gurdon,  The  Khasis,  also  village  rites  of  the  same  nature. 
London,  1907,  p.  158.  See  R.  Wilcox,  in  Selections  from 

3  A.  Playfair,  The  Garos,  London,  the  Records  of  the  Bengal  Govern- 
1909,  p.  114;  see  below,  p.  57  n.1  ment,  Calcutta,  1855,  no.  23,  p.  64. 


. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      55 


Manipur  have  a  well-developed  system  of  taboo,  here 
known  as  hrilh.  Persons  subject  to  hrilh  "must  do 
no  work,  except  necessary  household  tasks,  and  must 
not  leave  a  prescribed  area."  These  restrictions 
sometimes  affect  households  only,  sometimes  entire 
villages.  They  are  communally  imposed  in  connec- 
tion with  the  sacrifice  performed  before  a  large  hunting 
party  starts  out,  at  the  harvest  festival,  when  an  epi- 
demic sickness  rages,  and  on  other  occasions.2  West 
of  the  Lushei  dwell  the  Tippera  and  Mro  tribes,  among 
whom  the  communal  taboo  observed  in  consequence 
of  an  epidemic  goes  under  the  name  of  khang..  "The 
quarantine  is  inaugurated  and  declared  with  a  certain 
degree  of  ceremony.  A  sacrifice  is  offered,  and  the 
village  is  encircled  with  a  fresh-spun  white  thread. 
The  blood  of  the  animal  sacrificed  is  then  sprinkled 
about  the  village,  and  a  general  sweeping  and  cleansing 
takes  place,  the  houses  and  gates  being  decorated  with 
green  boughs.  They  attach  great  importance  to  the 
quarantine  being  kept  unbroken.  It  generally  lasts 
three  days,  and  during  that  time  no  one  is  allowed  to 
enter  or  leave  the  village.  I  have  known  several 
murders  committed,  owing  to  persons  persisting  in 
breaking  the  khang."  3  The  same  communal  taboo  is 
observed  when  a  village  is  being  built,  and  regularly 
in  July,  when  the  rice  requires  cultivation.4  These 
tribes  formerly  lived  in  the  Arakan  Hills  of  Lower 
Burma,  where  identical  regulations,  known  as  ya,  are 
also  enforced.5 

The  genna  custom  may  be  traced  in  various  parts 
of  Burma.     From  the  Naga,  Lushei,  and  other  tribes 

1 J.     Shakespear,     The     Lushei  Wild  Races  of  South-eastern  India 

Kuki  Clans,  London,  1912,  p.  69.  (London,    1870),  where  the  refer- 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  72  sq.,  75,  78,  80,  87;  ence  to  the  khang  will  be  found  on 
C.  A.  Soppitt,  A  Short  Account  of  pp.  196  sq. 

the   Kuki-Lushai    Tribes,    Shillong,  4  Lewin,    Hill     Tracts,     p.     94; 

1887,  p.  19.  idem,  Wild  Races,  p.  236  (Mro). 

3  T.  H.  Lewin,  The  Hill  Tracts  of  6  R.  F.  St.  Andrew  St.  John,  in 
Chittagong,  Calcutta,   1869,   p.  78.  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  In- 
Captain   Lewin's  interesting  work  stitute,  1873,  ii,  240. 

was    republished    under    the    title 


56  REST  DAYS 

of  Assam  the  ethnical  transition  is  unbroken  to  the 
Chin,  who  occupy  the  Chindwin  valley  and  the  hills 
to  the  west.  Probably  these  aborigines  are  not  un- 
familiar with  the  genna  as  a  device  to  avoid  a  visitation 
by  demonic  powers  identified  with  smallpox,  cholera, 
and  other  diseases.  We  are  told  that  once,  when 
cholera  broke  out  among  some  Chin  on  a  visit  to  Ran- 
goon, they  spent  the  day  hiding  under  the  bushes  so 
that  the  cholera-spirit  might  not  find  them.1  The 
Kachin  (Chingpaw)  on  the  upper  Irawadi  River,  a 
people  generally  regarded  as  closely  akin  to  the  Chin 
on  the  one  hand  and  to  the  Karen  on  the  other,  recog- 
nize six  occasions  during  the  year,  when  no  one  is 
supposed  to  do  any  work.  The  rest  days,  number- 
ing sixteen  in  all,  are  known  collectively  as  na  na  ai, 
which  may  be  translated  "ceremonial  holiday."  They 
all  occur  in  connection  with  agriculture  —  when  the 
jungle  is  fired,  before  and  after  seed-planting,  while 
the  crop  is  ripening,  and  at  harvest  —  as  a  means  of 
securing  the  good  will  of  the  nat,  or  spirits.2  Similar 
customs  are  still  observed  by  some  of  the  Karen  tribes. 
Of  the  Tsawku  Karen  it  is  said  that  their  religion  con- 
sists entirely  in  attempts  to  appease  various  malignant 
spirits.  When  the  inhabitants  of  a  village  or  the  mem- 
bers of  a  household  are  engaged  in  ceremonies  of  propiti- 
ation, "they  put  up  a  bow  with  an  arrow  ready  fitted 
to  the  string,  or  some  other  sign  to  indicate  that  there 
is  'no  admittance,'  or  that  'trespassers  will  be  prose- 
cuted according  to  law,'  and  these  insignia  are  scru- 
pulously respected."  3  The  Sawngtung  Karen  forbid 
any  one  to  leave  the  village  on  the  day  of  the  birth  of 
a  child  in  it,  and  no  eggs  may  be  kept  in  the  village 
while  the  fields  are  being  reaped.  The  Taungthu 
Karen  believe  that  giving  away  anything  at  all  on 

1  B.  S.  Carey  and  H.  N.  Tuck,      and    Hardiman,    Rangoon,     1900  ? 
The    Chin    Hills,    Rangoon,    1896,      pt.  i,  vol.  i,  pp.  425  sq. 

i,  198.  3  A.  R.  McMahon,  The  Karens  of 

2  Gazetteer  of  Upper  Burma  and      the     Golden     Chersonese,     London, 
the   Shan   States,   edited    by   Scott      1876,  p.  292. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      57 

sowing  or  planting  days  means  blight  for  the  crop.1 
These  superstitions  no  doubt  represent  decadent  forms 
of  a  once-extensive  genna  system  among  the  Karen. 
The  genna,  again,  has  been  noticed  among  the  Muhso, 
or  Lalu,  a  large  tribe  which  has  emigrated  from  China  to 
the  Shan  States.  The  Muhso  close  their  villages 
against  strangers  for  five  days  during  an  annual  festi- 
val, which  begins  on  the  Chinese  New  Year's  Day. 
Bamboo  gateways  and  symbols  are  erected  along  the 
paths  approaching  a  settlement,  in  order  to  warn 
possible  intruders.  If  an  outsider  persists  in  entering 
a  village,  he  is  kept  a  prisoner  there  till  the  festival  is 
over.  All  his  possessions,  even  his  clothes,  are  taken 
away  from  him  and  he  is  returned  naked  to  the  world. 
In  explanation  of  this  conduct  the  natives  say  that 
the  spirits,  in  whose  honour  the  feast  is  held,  are  dis- 
pleased at  the  presence  of  strangers.2  The  Wild  Wa, 
a  head-hunting  tribe  on  the  northeastern  frontier  of 
the  Shan  States,  are  said  to  have  no  regularly  re- 
current festivals,  but  hold  them  as  often  as  they  are 
confronted  by  "particular  dangers  or  necessities."3 
The  Miao  (Miao-tse),  one  of  the  little-known  tribes 
of  southwestern  China,  celebrate  musical  festivals 
throughout  the  year.  These  seem  now  to  be  fetes 
pure  and  simple,  though  at  one  time  possessing  a 
religious  character.  "If  asked  why  they  hold  these 
festivals,  they  say  that  if  they  failed  to  do  so  their 
crops  would  be  bad ;  and  yet  they  do  not  profess 

1  Sir  R.  C.  Temple,  "Burma,"  Wilhelms-Land  und  den  Bismarck- 

Hastings's    Encyclopedia    of   Reli-  Archipel,  1897,  xiii,  87). 
gion  and  Ethics,  iii,  37.     Similarly,  2  R.  G.   Woodthorpe,    in   Jour- 

the  Yabim  of  German  New  Guinea  nal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute, 

require    all    the    inhabitants    of   a  1897?  xxvi,  27  sqq.;  Sir  J.  G.  Scott, 

village  to  remain  at  home  on  the  "Buddhism  in  the  Shan   States," 

morning  after  the  birth  of  a  child.  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society, 

This    is    regarded    as    a   necessary  1911?   n.s.,   xliii,    931.     On  taboos 

precaution,  if  the  fruits  of  the  fields  affecting  intercourse  with  strangers 

and  gardens  are  not  to  be  spoiled  see,  in  general,  Frazer,  Taboo  and 

by  the  noxious  influences  emanating  the  Perils  of  the  Soul,  pp.  101-116. 
from  a  woman  in  childbed  (K.  3  Gazetteer  of  Upper  Burma  and 

Vetter,  in  Nachrichten  uber  Kaiser  the  Shan  States,  pt.  i,  vol.  i,  p.  515. 


58  REST  DAYS 

to  understand  how  the  harvests  are  influenced  by  this 
custom."  1 

The  genna,  either  in  vigorous  activity  or  in  attenu- 
ated survival,  has  now  been  traced  throughout  a  wide 
area  in  southeastern  Asia,  and  particularly  among 
the  Tibeto-Burman  tribes  of  Assam  and  Burma. 
Modern  ethnographers  recognize  in  the  Indo-Chinese 
an  immigrant  population,  probably  from  western  China, 
which  for  many  centuries  has  been  gradually  moving 
southward  along  the  course  of  the  great  rivers  empty- 
ing into  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  The  custom  of  the  genna 
appears  to  be  one  of  the  most  characteristic  fea- 
tures of  Indo-Chinese  culture ;  its  presence,  therefore, 
throughout  this  area  must  be  explained  as  the  result 
of  diffusion  and  not  of  independent  origination.  Fur- 
thermore, we  have  found  that  in  the  various  Indonesian 
islands  as  far  as  New  Guinea,  and  especially  in  Borneo, 
customs  closely  akin  to  that  of  the  genna  also  belong 
to  the  native  culture.  It  is  likely  that  the  ancestors 
of  the  Polynesians  passed  through  these  islands  on 
their  way  to  the  Pacific ;  if  this  be  so,  we  can  under- 
stand why  tabu  in  Polynesia  should  present  so  many 
obvious  resemblances  to  lali  in  Borneo  and  to  genna 
in  Assam.  The  student  whose  primary  concern  is  the 
wanderings  of  peoples  cannot  neglect  such  evidence 
of  extensive  diffusion,  showing  how  for  ages  cultural 
elements  have  been  drifting  from  the  interior  of  Asia 
over  the  Indo-Chinese  region  and  the  Indian  Archi- 
pelago, and  thence  into  the  island  world  of  the  Pacific. 

What  general  conclusions  may  be  drawn  from  a 
comparative  survey  of  these  communal  taboos  in  the 
several  areas  under  consideration  ?  In  the  first  place 
it  seems  clear  that  the  various  negative  regulations, 
such  as  those  imposing  idleness,  fasting,  and  continence, 
closely  resemble  some  of  the  pains  and  penalties  to 
which  the  savage  subjects  himself  on  other  occasions. 
For  instance,  the  well-known  custom  of  the  couvade  im- 
poses on  the  husband,  during  the  pregnancy  of  his  wife 

1  S.  R.  Clarke,  Among  the  Tribes  in  South-west  China,  London,  1911,  p.  63. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      59 


or  after  the  birth  of  the  child,  a  number  of  restrictions, 
which  often  include  abstention  from  various  sorts  of 
work,  and  sometimes  from  all  occupations  whatsoever. 
The  practice  of  the  couvade  appears  to  be  an  outgrowth 
of  the  idea  that  under  special  circumstances  the  close 
ties  uniting  husband  and  wife  engender  a  mystic  sym- 
pathy between  them,  so  that  the  acts  of  the  one 
affect  the  welfare  of  the  other.  Similar  ideas  underly 
the  numerous  rules  of  abstinence  observed  by  hunters, 
fishers,  and  warriors  when  absent  from  home,  and  by 
the  relatives  and  friends  whom  they  have  left  behind.1 
We  cannot  always  fathom  the  savage  logic  which  has 
generated  the  numberless  regulations  observed  at  such 
critical  seasons ;  but  they  would  seem  to  be  particular 
expressions  of  an  ancient  doctrine  —  "In  quietness 
shall  be  your  strength." 

In  the  second  place  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  the  conclu- 
sion that,  however  vexatious  and  burdensome  may  be 
the  restrictions  resting  on  a  primitive  community, 
these  are  not  without  a  definite  psychological  value. 
The  consciousness  that  all  the  omens  have  been  duly 
taken  and  that  all  taboos  have  been  properly  observed 
is  itself  invigorating ;  the  community  goes  forward, 
henceforth,  with  renewed  strength  and  confidence  to 
the  tasks  which  lie  before  it.2 

Finally,  it  may  be  pointed  out  how  directly  these 
communal  regulations  make  for  social  solidarity.  Stu- 
dents of  early  society  have  long  recognized  the  fact 
that  the  institution  of  taboo,  in  its  individualistic 

1  For     instances     of     "magical  really  "two  great  practical  advan- 
telepathy"  in  hunting,  fishing,  and  tages :     namely,   it   inspires   confi- 
warfare  see  Frazer,  The  Magic  Art  dence,  and  it  promotes  discipline 
and    the    Evolution    of    Kings,    i,  and    a   strong   sense   of  collective 
119-134.  unity  and  responsibility.     It  is  not 

2  As  Messrs.  Hose  and  McDou-  improbable,  then,  that  the  advan- 
gall  judiciously  observe,   the  cult  tages   of  this   seemingly   senseless 
of   omen-birds    found  "among    the  cult  outweigh  its  drawbacks,  which, 
Kayan  of  Borneo,  though  it  ham-  in  the  shape  of  endless  delays  and 
pers  their  undertakings  at  almost  changes  of  plans,  are  by  no  means 
every  turn  and  might  seem  to  be  small"    (Pagan    Tribes   of  Borneo, 
wholly  foolish  and  detrimental,  has  i,  170  n.1). 


60  REST  DAYS 

aspects,  has  helped  to  nurse  in  man  a  sense  of  rever- 
ence and  a  power  of  self-restraint  greatly  needed  under 
primitive  conditions.  Such  beneficial  results  are  even 
more  manifest  in  the  case  of  communal  taboos.  For, 
when  the  restrictions  are  violated  by  any  one,  there  is 
always  the  feeling  that  misfortune  will  overtake  the 
entire  social  group,  and  hence  a  duty  devolves  on  each 
man  to  see  that  his  neighbour  obeys  the  law.  Altru- 
ism becomes  a  coercive  process,  and  social  cohesion 
is  secured  by  each  member  of  the  group  making  him- 
self his  brother's  keeper.  It  is  desirable  to  keep  in 
mind  these  positive  benefits  inherent  in  the  taboo  sys- 
tem, since  perhaps  excessive  attention  has  been  directed 
to  its  hampering  influence  on  society. 

In  the  three  regions  which  have  been  selected  for 
close  examination  —  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  Borneo, 
and  Assam  —  it  thus  appears  that  there  are  certain 
occasions  when  the  normal  current  of  life  is  interrupted, 
and  when  what  may  well  be  called  a  crisis  presents 
itself.1  In  general  any  time  of  special  significance,  in- 
augurating a  new  era  or  marking  the  transition  from 
one  state  to  another,  any  period  of  storm  and  stress, 
any  epoch  when  untoward  events  have  occurred  or 
are  expected  to  occur,  may  be  invested  with  taboos 
designed  to  meet  the  emergency  in  the  communal  life 
and  to  ward  off  the  threatened  danger  or  disaster. 
Periods  of  abstinence  are  imposed  because  of  such 
unusual,  and  therefore  critical,  events  as  a  conflagra- 
tion, an  epidemic  sickness,  or  an  earthquake ;  after 
a  death ;  at  the  changes  of  the  moon ;  at  the  end  of 
the  old  year  and  the  beginning  of  the  new  year ;  dur- 
ing a  time  devoted  to  the  banning  of  ghosts  and  demons  ; 
and  in  connection  with  such  important  undertakings 
as  the  commencement  of  a  war,  seed-planting,  and 
harvest,  and  the  celebration  of  a  solemn  religious  or 
magical  ceremony.  The  peoples  whom  we  have  just 

1  On  the  sociological  conception  1909,  pp.  16  sqq. ;  R.  R.  Marett, 
of  crisis  see  W.  I.  Thomas,  Source  The  Threshold  of  Religion?  London, 
Book  for  Social  Origins,  Chicago,  1914,  pp.  198  sqq. 


TAI 

1  •  11 


TABOOED  DAYS  AT  CRITICAL  EPOCHS      61 


studied  have,  so  to  speak,  institutionalized  their  fears, 
working  out  thereby  a  protective  procedure  highly 
complex  and  elaborate.  But  the  conceptions  which 
generated  the  tabooed  day  in  Polynesia,  Indonesia, 
and  southeastern  Asia  are  not  local  and  confined ; 
on  the  contrary  they  underly  a  wide  range  of  social 
phenomena. 


CHAPTER  II 

TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH  AND  ON  RELATED 
OCCASIONS 

AMONG  the  lower  races  perhaps  the  most  common 
occasion  for  the  suspension  of  ordinary  occupations  is 
after  a  death.1  The  prohibition  of  work  at  this  time 
usually  forms  only  one  of  a  number  of  regulations, 
which  also  impose  partial  or  complete  abstinence  from 
food  and  place  a  ban  on  loud  talking,  singing,  and  the 
wearing  of  ornaments  and  gay  clothing.  The  taboos 
are  often  confined  to  the  family  or  at  most  to  the  rela- 
tives of  the  deceased ;  in  other  cases  they  affect  the 
entire  community.  The  explanation  of  these  rules 
must  sometimes  be  sought  in  animistic  conceptions. 
The  soul  of  the  dead  man  is  supposed  to  remain  for  a 
time  with  the  body  in  the  grave  or  near  the  scenes  of 
the  earthly  life.  Until  the  funeral  ceremonies  are 
completed,  when  the  ghost  is  finally  "laid"  or  departs 
for  the  abode  of  the  dead,  prudence  requires  the  sur- 
vivors to  avoid  all  conspicuous  activity,  if  they  would 
not  attract  the  unwelcome  attentions  of  the  ghost. 
A  similar  period  of  quiescence  may  be  considered 

1  On  the  primitive  ideas  of  death  G.  Frazer,  The  Belief  in  Immortality 

see  particularly  R.  Hertz,  "Contri-  and  the  Worship  of  the  Dead,  Lon- 

bution  a  une  etude  sur  la  represen-  don,  1913,  i,  31-58;  A.  van  Gennep, 

tation    collective    de    la    morte,"  Les  rites  de  passage,   Paris,    1909, 

L'annee  sociologique,  1905-1906,  x,  pp.  209-236;    L.  Levy-Bruhl,  Les 

48-137;     E.  S.  Hartland,  "Death  fonctions  mentales  dans  les  societes 

and  Disposal  of  the  Dead  (Introduc-  inferieures,   Paris,    1910,    pp.    321- 

tory),"  Hastings's  Encyclopedia  of  330,  352-396.     For  a  useful  collec- 

Religion   and  Ethics,   iv,   411-444;  tion  of  ethnographic  evidence  see 

W.  H.  R.  Rivers,  "The  Primitive  E.    Samter,    Geburt,   Hochzeit,   und 

Conception     of     Death,"     Hibbert  Tod,  Leipzig,  1911. 
Journal,  1912,  x,  393~4O7;    Sir  J. 

62 


TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH    63 

necessary  when  the  death  is  attributed  to  an  evil 
spirit,  which  lurks  about  its  quarry  and  seeks  another 
victim. 

But  earlier,  probably,  in  development,  and  certainly 
far  more  general,  is  the  belief  in  the  pollution  of  death.1 
Primitive  peoples  seldom  recognize  a  death  as  due  to 
what  we  should  call  natural  causes.  Sickness,  and 
death  following  on  sickness,  when  not  attributed  to  the 
direct  action  of  an  evil  spirit  or  of  some  malevolent 
person  who  has  been  practising  nefarious  magic,  are 
thought  to  be  due  to  the  contaminating  miasma  of 
death.  Death  is  a  mysterious  atmospherical  poison 
which  extends  its  defiling  influence  far  and  wide. 
Hence  we  have  at  least  one  motive  for  the  very  common 
custom  of  destroying  the  house  and  personal  property 
of  the  deceased.  Hence  arise  the  taboos  of  the  corpse, 
of  persons  who  have  anything  to  do  with  the  corpse,  of 
the  relatives  of  the  deceased,  and  of  mourners,  gener- 
ally. An  obvious  application  of  such  ideas  requires 
that  all  activities  should  be  abandoned  by  the  sur- 
vivors for  some  time  after  a  death;  and,  where  the 
sense  of  social  solidarity  is  strong,  the  notion  of  absti- 
nence at  so  critical  a  season  may  be  extended  to  the 
entire  community.2 

Communal  taboos  following  a  death  are  not  un- 
known in  Polynesia,  Micronesia,  and  New  Guinea,3 
and  may  be  traced  elsewhere  in  the  Oceanic  area.  In 
Timor,  when  a  king  dies,  no  work  is  done  for  seven 
days  thereafter.4  In  Halmahera  an  entire  village  will 

1  A.    E.   Crawley,     The    Mystic  Sociology,   1910,  xv,  794-805 ;    H. 
Rose,  London,   1902,   pp.  95  sqq.;  Berkusky,  "Der  Einfluss  aberglau- 
L.    R.    Farnell,    The   Evolution    of  bischer  Vorstellungen  auf  das  wirt- 
Religion,  London,  1905,  pp.  96  sqq.;  schaftliche  und  soziale  Leben  der 
E.   Westermarck,    The  Origin   and  Naturvolker,"  Zeitschrift  fur  Social- 
Development    of   the    Moral    Ideas,  wissenschaft,  1913,  n.s.,  iv,  489-498, 
London,  1906-1908,  ii,  535  sqq.  567-584. 

2  On  the  sociological  aspects  of  3  Above,  pp.  24,  25,  26. 

these   and   other  superstitions   see  4  H.  O.  Forbes,  in  Journal  of  the 

H.Webster,  "Influence  of   Super-  Anthropological  Institute,  1884,  xiii, 

stition  on  the  Evolution  of  Prop-  420. 
erty  Rights,"  American  Journal  of 


64  REST  DAYS 

be  tabooed  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  one  of  its 
members.  Violations  of  the  taboo  (pomali)  are  severely 
punished.1  The  practice  of  intermitting  work  in  a 
village  until  a  corpse  is  buried  prevails  in  many  of  the 
Molucca  Islands.2  Among  all  the  non-Christian  tribes 
of  northern  Luzon,  "there  is  no  field  work  in  an  ato  on  the 
day  when  an  adult  person  is  buried."  3  The  inhabitants 
of  Kar  Nicobar  exhibit  great  fear  of  ghostly  influence 
before  the  funeral  ceremonies  have  been  completed. 
The  corpse  of  any  one  who  has  died  in  the  village  is 
conveyed  at  once  to  the  "dead  house,"  and  the  inhabi- 
tants proceed  to  barricade  themselves  in  their  houses 
and  to  keep  fires  burning  before  the  doors.  The 
houses,  canoes,  and  ground  about  the  village  are 
covered  with  palm  leaves  to  prevent  the  ghost  from 
entering.  Some  of  the  dead  man's  pigs  are  killed,  a 
few  cocoa  palms  are  cut  down,  and  on  rare  occasions 
his  house  is  burnt,  or  unroofed  and  left  deserted. 
"  Shaving  the  head  is  sometimes  indulged  in  as  a  sign 
of  mourning,  together  with  frequent  bathing  and 
abstinence  from  work." 4  The  Malay  fishermen  of 
the  Patani  States  in  the  Malay  Peninsula  observe 
various  restrictions  and  prohibitions,  the  transgression 
of  which  would  bring  sickness  or  misfortune.  If  a 
death  occurs  in  a  fishing  village,  no  boat  from  that 
village  must  go  to  sea  on  the  following  day,  and  no 
one  must  set  out  on  a  land  journey.  The  fisherman 
or  the  traveller  who  disregarded  this  injunction  would 
have  no  luck  and  would  probably  meet  with  some 
disaster.5 

1  A.      Maass,       "  Ta-kd-kdi-kai  3  D/C.  Worcester,  in  Philippine 

tabu"    Zeitschrift    fur    Ethnologie,  Journal   of  Science,    1906,    i,    844. 

1905,  xxxvii,  155;  J.  G.  F.  Riedel,  Compare  F.  C.  Cole,  in  American 

ibid,,  1885,  xvii,  69.  Anthropologist,   1909,  n.s.,   xi,    337 

2J.   G.   F.    Riedel,   De  sluik-en  (Tenguian). 

kroesharige   r  as  sen   tusschen   Selebes  4  C.  B.  Kloss,  In  the  Andamans 

en  Papua,  The   Hague,   1886,   pp.  and  Nicobars,  London,    1903,   pp. 

1 68  (Seranglao   and  Gorong  archi-  303  sqq. 

pelagoes),  197  (Watubela  Islands),  5  Annandale  and  Robinson,  Fas- 

223  (Kei  Islands),  341  (Babar  Archi-  ciculi  Malayensis,   London,    1903- 

pelago),  414  (Keisar  Island).  1904,  i,  83. 


j 


TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH    65 

Periods  of  abstinence  after  a  death  are  observed  by 
many  of  the  tribes  of  Borneo,  in  close  connection  with 
the  prevailing  institution  of  taboo.  When  a  death 
occurs  in  an  Iban  village,  the  inhabitants  give  up  their 
outdoor  occupations  and  remain  at  home,  seven  days 
in  the  case  of  a  male,  three  days  for  a  female,  and  one 
day  for  an  infant.  During  this  time  the  relatives 
of  the  deceased  lay  aside  their  ornaments  and  bright 
dresses,  assume  deep  mourning,  and  abstain  from  music 
and  jollity.1  Another  authority  declares  that  after  a 
death  "  it  is  tabooed  to  work  on  the  farm  :  at  busy  times 
for  three  days;  at  other  times  for  seven  days."2  In 
the  case  of  a  chief's  death  the  natives  refrain  from  work 
for  a  longer  period  than  is  usual  when  a  commoner  dies.3 
Similar  restrictions  are  found  among  the  Land  Dyak,4 
the  Dusun,  or  Sundyak,  of  British  North  Borneo,5 
and  some  other  tribes.  Members  of  a  Kayan  household 
observe  various  mourning  ceremonies,  and  in  particular 
avoid  all  music,  feasts,  and  jollifications  for  a  period 
which  varies  in  length  according  to  the  social  standing 
of  the  deceased.6 

Among  the  Naga  tribes  of  Manipur,  with  the  notable 
exception  of  the  Mao  people  by  whom  a  village  genna 
is  held  whenever  a  villager  dies,  it  is  not  necessary  or 
usual  to  perform  this  communal  rite  in  cases  of  regular 
and  non-mysterious  death.  The  genna  is  then  confined 
to  the  clan,  that  is,  to  the  group  of  individuals  who  com- 
prise the  heirs  of  the  deceased.7  But  all  cases  of  death 
by  sudden  illness,  by  accident,  by  the  hand  of  an  enemy, 

1  Brooke  Low,  in  Journal  of  the      of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society, 
Anthropological  Institute,  1892,  xxi,      1858,  ii,  348. 

122;     idem,    in    Roth,    Natives   of  6  Hose  and  McDougall,  op.  cit., 

Sarawak  and  British  North  Borneo,  ii,    37    sq.     The    Kayan    on    the 

i,  155.  Mahakam  River  require  all  those 

2  L.  Nyuak,  in  Anthropos,  1906,  who  have  been  polluted  by  taking 
i,  413 .  part  in  burial  ceremonies  to  undergo 

3  E.  H.  Gomes,  Seventeen  Years  a  two  days'  melo,  or  ceremonial  ab- 
among  the   Sea  Dyaks   of  Borneo,  stention  from  work  (Nieuwenhuis, 
London,  1911,  p.  139.  op.  cit.,  ii,  119). 

4  Above,  p.  36.  7  Hodson,  Naga  Tribes,  pp.  99, 
6  De  Crespigny,  in  Proceedings      174,  177. 

F 


66  REST  DAYS 

and  by  wild  animals  or  snakes  necessitate  general  or 
village  genna.1  The  same  rule  prevails  when  a  woman 
has  died  in  childbirth.2  The  purpose  of  these  regula- 
tions seems  to  be  that  of  separating  the  living  as  soon 
as  possible  from  the  dangerous  spirits,  of  the  dead,  or 
of  avoiding  the  contagion  of  death.  Among  the  Khasi 
of  Assam,  who  do  not  observe  general  seasons  of 
restriction,  clan  genna  are  imposed  after  a  death.  The 
surviving  clansmen  are  not  allowed  to  work  until  three 
days  have  elapsed  from  the  time  of  placing  the  bones 
of  the  deceased  in  the  clan  tomb.3  In  northern  Arakan, 
Lower  Burma,  when  any  native  has  been  killed  by  a 
tiger,  crocodile,  or  other  animal,  when  any  woman 
resident  in  the  village  dies  in  childbed,  or  when  the 
body  of  a  person  who  died  in  such  a  manner  is  brought 
into  the  village,  all  intercourse  with  that  village  is  cut 
off  until  the  appearance  of  the  next  new  moon.4  Similar 
regulations  exist  among  the  Lao  of  northern  Siam  and 
among  the  savage  inhabitants  of  Indo-China.5 

Taboos  following  a  death  and  imposing  abstinence 
from  work  are  found  in  various  parts  of  India.  Among 
the  Muppan,  a  hill-tribe  of  Wynaad,  Malabar,  the 
relatives  of  the  deceased  do  no  work  on  the  day  after 
the  funeral,  and  also  partially  abstain  from  food.  At 

1  Hodson,  op.  cit.,  pp.  100,  152,  a  five  days'  village  genna,  but  the 
1 66,   174.     Compare  idem,  "Mor-  same  period  of  restriction   is   also 
tuary    Ritual    and    Eschatological  imposed  after  the  death  of  a  child 
Beliefs  among  the  Hill  Tribes  of  dying   in   infancy   (J.   Shakespear, 
Assam," Archivfiir Religionswissen-  "Customs    at    Death    among    the 
schaft,  1909,  xii,  449.  Manipuris    and    Cognate    Clans," 

2  Hodson,   Ndga    Tribes,   p.    88.  Folk-lore,  1912,  xxiii,  466  sqq.). 
"We  find  among  the  Naga  tribes  3  P.  R.  T.  Gurdon,  The  Khasis, 
that,  if  a  woman  died  in  childbirth  London,  1907,  p.  143. 

(an  event  of  rare  occurrence),  the  4  R.  F.  St.  Andrew  St.  John,  in 

child   was   never   allowed   to   live,  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  In- 

because  they  believed  it  to  be  an  stitute,  1873,  ii,  240. 
evil  spirit,  a  disembodied  ghost,  in-  6  A.  Coussot  and  H.  Ruel,  Douzf 

carnated  in  the  mother  whose  death  mois   chez   les    sauvages    du    Laos, 

it  had  caused"  (idem,  "Some  Naga  Paris,  1898,  p.  205;    A.  Cabaton, 

Customs  and  Superstitions,"  Folk-  "Indo-China      (Savage      Races)," 

lore,  1910,  xxi,  301).     Among  the  Hastings's  Encyclopedia  of  Religion 

Kabui  Naga  not  only  does  the  death  and  Ethics,  vii,  232. 
of  a  woman  in  childbirth  necessitate 


TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH     67 

a  subsequent  date  they  perform  a  final  ceremony  to 
remove  every  trace  of  the  death  pollution  and  to  give 
peace  to  the  departed  spirit.1  In  former  times  the 
Kataharayan,  a  fisher  folk  living  on  the  Malabar  coast, 
intermitted  their  fishing  for  three  days  after  the  death 
of  a  prince  of  Malabar.2  Among  the  Kasuba,  a  forest 
tribe  inhabiting  the  Nilgiri  Hills  in  the  Madras  Presi- 
dency, fear  of  pollution  requires  the  relatives  of  the 
deceased  to  abstain  from  all  kinds  of  work  for  an  entire 
day.3  Far  away  to  the  north,  among  the  Paharia  of 
British  Sikkim,  the  same  ideas  of  pollution  prevail. 
All  persons  belonging  to  the  household  of  the  deceased 
must  observe  strict  silence  during  the  period  of  mourn- 
ing, and  they  may  eat  only  one  meal  a  day  and  that 
"half  a  bellyful."  Under  such  circumstances,  we  are 
told,  work  in  the  fields  is  impossible.4  With  these 
regulations  may  be  compared  those  observed  in  Tibet, 
where  rich  and  respectable  men,  when  their  parents 
die,  abstain  for  a  year  from  participating  in  marriage 
ceremonies  and  festivities,  and  undertake  no  lengthy 
journeys.  Upon  the  demise  of  the  Dalai  Lama  or  of 
the  Tashi  Lama,  all  work  ceases  for  seven  days,  public 
offices  are  closed,  and  markets  are  suspended.  The 
people  refrain  from  amusements  and  festivities  and 
from  going  into  groves  for  pleasure,  sport,  and  love- 
making.  For  thirty  days  women  are  forbidden  to  put 
on  their  jewellery,  and  neither  men  nor  women  may 
wear  new  clothes.  Thus  the  land  of  Tibet  goes  into 
mourning  for  the  loss  of  one  of  its  great  hierarchs.5 

Very  similar  customs  are  found  within  the  African 
area.  They  seem  to  be  generally  observed  by  the 
Bantu  peoples  of  South  Africa.  Among  all  the  Zulu 
tribes  it  is  the  rule  that  no  one  labours  in  the  fields  on  the 
day  following  a  death,  and  that  after  the  death  of  a  chief 

*  F.  Fawcett,  in  Folk-lore,  1912,  4  H.    Hosten,    "Paharia    Burial 

xxiii,  42.  Customs  (British  Sikkim),"  Antkro- 

2  A.  K.  Iyer,  The  Cochin  Tribes      pos,  1909,  iv,  673,  675. 

and  Castes,  Madras,  1909,  i,  265.  6  S.   C.   Das,  Journey  to  Lhasa 

3  C.  H.  Rao,  in  Anthropos,  1909,      and  Central   Tibet,  London,    1902, 
iv,  181.  p.  256. 


68  REST  DAYS 

work  of  every  sort  is  suspended  for  six  months.1  "If  a 
person  is  struck  by  lightning,  the  whole  kraal  fast  and 
do  not  even  drink  water,  until  the  mediciner  has  per- 
formed his  office." 2  The  Basuto,  who  form  the 
eastern  branch  of  the  widespread  Bechuana  people, 
abstain  from  all  public  work  on  the  day  when  an 
influential  person  dies.3  In  Ussindja,  a  district  of  Ger- 
man East  Africa,  the  Sultan  Rwoma  gave  vent  to 
his  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  a  favourite  son  by  forbidding 
all  agricultural  work  for  six  years.  Within  a  few 
months,  however,  famine  stared  his  subjects  in  the 
face,  and  the  grief-stricken  father  was  compelled  to 
rescind  the  prohibition.4  Mourning  regulations  which 
impose  abstinence  from  work  have  been  described 
among  various  tribes  of  British  East  Africa  occupying 
the  territory  to  the  east  and  north  of  Lake  Victoria 
Nyanza.  The  Akikuyu,  who  observe  many  restric- 
tions connected  with  the  corpse,  regard  the  day  after 
a  death  as  unlucky.  "People  will  not  travel,  and  goats 
and  sheep  will  not  bear,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
village  shave  their  heads.  The  women  will  not  go  out 
for  four  days.  On  the  next  day  the  sons  who  have 
taken  part  in  the  burial  do  not  work."  5  The  taboos 
enforced  by  the  Nandi  present  some  curious  resem- 
blances to  those  which  we  have  met  among  Indonesian 
peoples.  The  Nandi,  probably  in  former  days  a 
hunting  tribe,  have  now  taken  to  agriculture  and  raise 
large  crops  of  eleusine  grain  and  millet.  Their  super- 
stitions invest  the  process  of  farming  with  many  restric- 

1  Dudley    Kidd,    The    Essential          2  Joseph  Shooter,  The  Kafirs  of 

Kafir,  London,  1904,  p.  253 ;  Fare-  Natal  and  the  Zulu  Country,  Lon- 

well,  in  W.  F.  W.  Owen,  Narrative  don,  1857,  p.  216. 
of  Voyages  to  explore  the  Shores  of  3  E.  Casalis,  Les  Bassoutos,  Paris, 

Africa,    Arabia,    and   Madagascar,  1859,  p.  275. 

London,    1833,    ii,    397.     A    Kafir  4  P.  Kollmann,  Der  Nordzuesten 

chief,  on  succeeding  to  power,  is  unserer     ostafrikanischen     Kolonie, 

said  to  have  declared  a  taboo  of  Berlin,  1898,  p.  77. 
all  field  work  for  an  entire  year  and  5  W.  S.  Routledge  and  Katherine 

to  have  put  to  death  every  woman  Routledge,  With  a  Prehistoric  Peo- 

who  became  pregnant  during  this  pie,  London,  1910,  p.  172. 
period  (Globus,  1889,  Ivi,  62). 


TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH 


69 


tions  :  no  one  while  in  a  plantation  may  carry  a  spear 
or  rest  a  spear  on  the  earth ;  thigh-bells  must  not  be 
worn ;  a  hide  must  not  be  dragged  along  the  ground ; 
whistling  is  strictly  forbidden.  Work  is  prohibited 
for  an  entire  day  following  an  earthquake,  a  phenome- 
non which  Nandi  speculation,  in  common  with  other 
savage  philosophies,  attributes  to  the  movement  of 
underground  spirits.1  If  a  hailstorm  occurs,  if  a  hoe 
breaks,  or  if  a  beast  of  prey  seizes  a  goat,  no  work  must 
be  done  in  the  fields  for  the  rest  of  the  day  and  for 
twenty-four  hours  afterwards.  It  is  believed  that  any 
sick  person  who  eats  the  grain  when  harvested,  or  who 
drinks  beer  made  from  the  grain,  will  die,  and  that 
pregnant  women  will  abort.  If  the  owner  of  a  planta- 
tion dies  while  his  crops  are  ripening,  all  the  grain 
must  be  eaten  and  none  reserved  for  sowing;  other- 
wise the  grain  will  rot  in  the  ground.2  The  Nilotic 
Kavirondo  do  not  cultivate  their  fields  for  three  days 
after  the  death  of  any  one  of  importance,  and  for  ten 
days  after  the  death  of  a  chief.3  Their  neighbours,  the 


!R.  Lasch,  "Die  Ursache  und 
Bedeutung  der  Erdbeben  im  Volks- 
glauben  und  Vplksbrauch,"  Archiv 
fur  Religionswissenschaft,  1902,  v, 
236-257,  369-383;  B.  Struck, 
"African  Ideas  on  the  Subject  of 
Earthquakes,"  Journal  of  the 
African  Society,  1909,  viii,  398-411. 

2  A.  C.  Hollis,  The  Nandi,  Ox- 
ford, 1908,  pp.  17,  20,  100.  The 
rules  imposed  by  Nandi  custom  on 
persons  ceremonially  unclean  in- 
clude abstinence  from  work.  For 
instance,  after  Nandi  girls  have 
been  operated  upon  at  puberty, 
they  must  stay  in  their  mothers' 
huts  in  complete  seclusion  for  a 
month  or  more.  After  recovering 
from  the  effects  of  the  operation, 
they  may  be  married.  But  if  no 
husbands  appear,  the  girls  continue 
to  live  in  a  secluded  state  for  several 
weeks  longer.  If  they  go  abroad, 
they  must  always  wear  long  masks 


and  veils ;  they  must  not  stand  near 
anybody  or  call  a  person  by  name ; 
they  may  not  enter  a  cornfield  or  a 
cattle-kraal;  and  they  may  do  no 
work.  Again,  a  Nandi  bride,  for 
an  entire  month  after  her  marriage, 
is  waited  on  by  the  bridegroom's 
mother,  since  it  is  unlawful  for  a 
bride  during  this  period  to  per- 
form labour.  Similarly,  a  Nandi 
mother,  after  the  birth  of  a  child, 
is  unclean  and  may  not  do  any 
housework  for  a  month  (ibid., 
pp.  59  sq.,  63  sqq.}.  Among  the 
Habbe  of  the  western  Sudan  a 
man,  whose  wife  is  menstruating, 
dares  not  undertake  any  journey, 
hunt,  or  sow  (L.  Desplagnes,  Le 
plateau  central  nigerien,  Paris,  1904, 
p.  227). 

3  C.  W.  Hobley,  Eastern  Uganda, 
London,  1902,  p.  28  (Occasional 
Papers  of  the  Royal  Anthropological 
Institute,  no.  i). 


70  REST  DAYS 

Basoga,  sometimes  extended  the  days  of  mourning  for 
a  deceased  chief  to  two  months.  It  is  said  that  the 
crops  not  infrequently  suffered  because  of  the  strict 
abstention  from  work  in  the  fields.1  Certain  Abys- 
sinian tribes  refrain  from  ploughing,  sowing,  and  grind- 
ing grain  until  a  corpse  is  buried.2  Among  the  Arabs 
of  Morocco,  studied  by  Professor  Westermarck,  there  is 
a  prohibition  of  all  work  in  the  village  until  the  funeral 
has  taken  place.3 

The  belief  in  the  pollution  of  death  is  very  strong 
among  the  Malagasy.  On  the  decease  of  a  sovereign 
many  practices  are  tabooed  (fady)  to  the  common 
people,  such  prohibitions  extending  to  various  periods 
according  to  the  will  of  the  new  ruler.  Thus,  to  sing, 
to  play  music,  to  clap  hands,  to  laugh  boisterously, 
to  dance,  to  wear  ornaments  or  brightly  coloured  gar- 
ments, to  dress  or  anoint  the  hair,  to  wear  a  hat,  to 
cut  the  nails,  to  clean  the  teeth,  to  bathe,  to  gaze  in  a 
mirror,  and  to  carry  the  arms  akimbo  are  all  fady. 
Such  tasks  as  pottery-making,  spinning  and  weaving, 
plaiting  of  mats,  carpentry,  and  metal-working  are 
often  suspended.  Furthermore,  no,  one  is  allowed  to 
lie  on  a  bedstead  or  to  ride  in  a  palanquin  or  on  horse- 
back, and  every  one  is  expected  to  shave  the  head  and 
uncover  the  shoulders.  Many  of  these  regulations,  it 
is  to  be  noticed,  are  also  enforced  after  the  death  of  a 
near  relative.4 

In  the  New  World  the  funeral  ceremonies  of  the  rulers 
of  Mechoacan  furnish  another  illustration  of  the  super- 
stition under  discussion.  We  are  told  that  when  a  king 
was  buried  all  who  had  participated  in  the  obsequies 
washed  themselves  and  went  to  dinner  in  the  yard  of 

JSir     H.     H.     Johnston,     The  4  H.    E.     Standing,    "Malagasy 

Uganda  Protectorate,  London,  1902,  fady,"  Antananarivo  Annual,  1883, 

ii,  176  sqq.  no.  7,  p.  74.     Compare  A.  Grandi- 

2  W.  Munzinger,  Ostafrikanische  dier,  ibid.,  1891,  no.  15,  p.  316;  A. 
Studien,  Schaffhausen,  1864,  p.  528  van  Gennep,  Tabou  et  totemisme  d 
(Barea  and  Kunama).  Madagascar,  Paris,   1904,    pp.    100 

3  Westermarck,  Origin  and  Devel-  sqq.,  203. 
opment  of  the  Moral  Ideas,  ii,  283. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH    71 

the  king's  house,  "and  having  dined  they  wiped  their 
hands  upon  certain  locks  of  cotton-wool,  hanging  down 
their  heads,  and  not  speaking  a  word,  except  it  were  to 
ask  for  drink."  These  purificatory  rites  were  accom- 
panied by  a  season  of  communal  abstinence  which 
lasted  five  days,  "and  in  all  that  time  no  fire  was  per- 
mitted to  be  kindled  in  the  city,  except  in  the  king's 
house  and  temples,  nor  yet  any  corn  was  ground,  or 
market  kept,  nor  durst  any  go  out  of  their  houses."1 
Among  the  Seminoles  of  Florida  on  the  day  of  a  funeral, 
and  for  three  days  thereafter,  the  relatives  of  the  de- 
ceased remained  at  home  and  abstained  from  work. 
During  this  time  the  dead  man  was  supposed  to  remain 
in  his  grave.  Subsequently  he  took  his  departure  for 
an  abode  in  the  skies,  and  mourning  then  ceased.2 

The  restrictions  following  a  death  appear  to  be  espe- 
cially prominent  among  the  Eskimo  tribes,  who  possess 
a  well-marked  system  of  taboos.  In  Greenland  we 
meet  the  practice  of  requiring  not  only  the  kindred  of 
the  deceased,  but  likewise  all  who  have  lived  in  the  same 
house  with  him  to  abstain  from  certain  articles  of  food 
and  from  work  for  some  time  after  death.3  Among  the 
Eskimo  of  Baffin  Land  and  Hudson  Strait  after  the 
death  of  any  person  it  is  forbidden  "to  scrape  the  frost 
from  the  window,  to  shake  the  beds  or  to  disturb  the 
shrubs  under  the  bed,  to  remove  oil-drippings  from 
under  the  lamp,  to  scrape  hair  from  skins,  to  cut  snow 
for  the  purpose  of  melting  it,  to  work  on  iron,  wood, 
stone,  or  ivory.  Furthermore,  women  are  forbidden 
to  comb  their  hair,  to  wash  their  faces,  and  to  dry  their 
boots  and  stockings." 4  These  Eskimo  require  the 

1  Thomas  Gage,  A  New  Survey  tory,  1901,  xv,  121  sq.     With  these 
of  the  West-Indies^  London,  1699,  regulations  may  be  compared  the 
p.  160.  restrictions     which,     among      the 

2  C.  MacCauley,  in  Fifth  Annual  Kwakiutl  of  British  Columbia,  are 
Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  imposed  on  a  man  who  has  eaten 
p.  521.  human  flesh   as  a  ceremonial  rite 

3  Hans  Egede,  A  Description  of  and  who,   therefore,   is  considered 
Greenland,  London,  1745,  pp.  149  sq.  unclean.     He   must   not   approach 

4  F.    Boas,    in    Bulletin    of   the  his  wife  for  an  entire  year,  nor  is  he 
American  Museum  of  Natural  His-  allowed  either  to  gamble  or  to  work 


72  REST  DAYS 

relatives  of  the  deceased  to  shut  themselves  up  in  his 
hut  and  mourn  his  loss  for  three  days.  During  this 
time  the  inhabitants  of  a  village  must  not  use  their 
dogs,  but  must  walk  to  the  hunting-ground.  For  one 
day  at  least  they  are  not  allowed  to  go  hunting,  and  the 
women  refrain  from  all  work  whatsoever.  Dr.  Boas 
notes  how  in  the  winter  a  long  space  of  bad  weather 
occasions  privation,  since  hunters  cannot  leave  their 
huts.  "If  by  chance  some  one  should  happen  to  die 
during  this  time,  famine  is  inevitable,  for  a  strict  law 
forbids  the  performance  of  any  kind  of  work  during  the 
days  of  mourning."  During  these  three  days  the  soul 
of  the  deceased  is  supposed  to  be  still  with  the  body, 
not  having  yet  gone  to  the  home  of  the  goddess  Sedna 
in  the  underworld.1  According  to  one  account  the 
Innuit,  from  the  head  of  Bristol  Bay  to  the  Arctic, 
require  the  survivors  to  refrain  from  work  for  twenty 
days  after  a  death  in  the  family.2  This  is  probably 
too  broad  a  statement  and  does  not  allow  for  minor 
divergencies  of  custom  throughout  so  extensive  an 
area.  On  the  lower  Kuskokwim  River  the  Alaskan 
villagers  abstain  from  work  on  the  day  of  a  death, 
and,  in  many  instances,  on  the  day  following  such  an 
event.  None  of  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  may  per- 
form any  labour  during  the  period,  four  or  five  days  in 
length,  when  the  shade  is  believed  to  remain  with  the 
body.3  The  rule  requiring  no  work  in  a  village  on  the 
day  when  a  person  dies  prevails  among  the  Bering 
Strait  Eskimo.  Relatives  of  the  deceased  must  ab- 

during     this     time     (Boas,     "The  p.    (164)    (bound   with    Zeitschrift 

Social  Organization  and  the  Secret  fur   Ethnologie,   vol.   xvii).     These 

Societies  of  the  Kwakiutl  Indians,"  Eskimo    observe    like    restrictions 

Report  of  the  U.S.  National  Museum  after  the  capture  of  whales,  seals, 

for  1895,  pp.  537  sq.).  and    walruses,    which    form    their 

1  F.  Boas,  in  Sixth  Annual  Re-  principal  food  supply. 
port   of  the   Bureau    of  Ethnology,  2  H.     W.     Elliott,     Our    Arctic 

pp.   427,  613   sq.;    compare  idem,  Province,  New  York,  1887,  p.  389. 
"Die  Sagen  der  Baffin-Land  Eski-  3  E.    W.    Nelson,    in   Eighteenth 

mos,"    Ferhandlungen  der  Berliner  Annual   Report    of   the    Bureau    of 

Gesellschaft  fur  Anthropologie,  Eth-  American  Ethnology,  p.  319. 
nologie,     und     Urgeschichte,     1885, 


TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH 


73 


stain  from  activity  during  the  three  following  days.1 
One  observer  tells  of  a  Point  Barrow  woman  who 
declined  to  sew  on  clothing,  even  at  his  house,  because 
there  was  a  dead  man  in  the  village  who  had  not  yet 
been  carried  to  the  cemetery.  She  feared  that  "he 
would  see  her."  But  after  consultation  with  her  hus- 
band she  concluded  that  it  was  possible  to  protect 
herself  from  "him"  by  tracing  with  a  snow-knife  a 
circle  about  herself  on  the  floor.  Within  this  area 
she  did  the  sewing  required,  being  very  careful  to  keep 
all  her  work  inside  it.2 

Remarkably  similar  customs  prevail  among  some  of 
the  Asiatic  Eskimo,  and  incidentally  reinforce  the 
argument  for  the  transmission  of  cultural  elements 
between  northwestern  America  and  northeastern  Asia. 
The  Reindeer  Chukchi  forbid  any  kind  of  woman's 
work  with  needle  and  scraper  during  the  period  of  the 
funeral  ceremonies.  This  rule  refers  to  all  the  houses 
of  the  camp  or  village,  and  even  to  other  settlements 
in  the  vicinity.3  The  Koryak  stopped  all  work  in  the 


1  Ibid.,    p.     312.     Similarly,    a 
hunter    who    has    participated    in 
the    capture    of   a    whale    is    not 
allowed  to  do  any  work  for  the  next 
four    days,    that    being    the    time 
during  which  the  ghost  of  the  whale 
is   supposed  to  stay  with  its  body 
(ibid.,  p.  438).^ 

2  J.  Murdock,  in  Ninth  Annual 
Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
p.  424.     The  Alaskan  Eskimo  are 
now    being    rapidly    converted    to 
Christianity  or,  rather,  are  accept- 
ing as  many  of  the  Christian  teach- 
ings as  can  be  assimilated  by  them 
to    their    old    pagan    observances. 
The  missionary  they  regard  as  a 
shaman   and   his   prohibitions,   es- 
pecially those  relating  to  Sunday 
observance,  they  treat  as  so  many 
new  taboos  to  be  added  to  their 
long     catalogue     of     restrictions. 
"An  Eskimo  who  is  a  great  admirer 
of   the    white    people    (and    some 


Eskimo  are  not)  said  to  me  once 
that  some  Eskimo  foolishly  main- 
tained that  white  men  were  less 
intelligent  than  Eskimo  are.  But 
he  said  that  he  had  a  crushing 
reply  to  those  who  made  this 
statement.  He  would  say  to  them : 
'Our  wise  men  have  taboos  on  food 
and  drink,  they  have  taboos  on 
clothing  and  methods  of  travel,  on 
words  and  thoughts ;  but  until  the 
white  man  came  did  we  ever  hear 
of  Sunday  ?  Did  the  wisest  of  us 
ever  think  of  the  fact  that  a  day 
might  be  taboo?'"  (V.  Stefansson, 
"On  Christianizing  the  Eskimo," 
Harper's  Magazine,  1913,  cxxvii, 
674 ;  idem,  My  Life  with  the  Eskimo, 
New  York,  1913,  p.  412;  compare 
pp.  36  sq.,  89  sqq.,  374  sq.,  416 
sqq. 

3  W.  Bogoras,  in  Memoirs  of  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory, xi,  521. 


74  REST  DAYS 

settlement  before  the  last  rites  to  the  dead.  No  one 
went  hunting  or  sealing,  no  one  went  to  fetch  wood, 
and  the  women  did  no  sewing.  At  the  present  time 
this  rule  is  so  far  abrogated  as  to  apply  only  to  those 
in  the  house  where  the  body  lies.1  Among  the  Yakut, 
when  a  man  dies,  the  members  of  his  household  may 
not  execute  any  work  until  after  the  next  full  moon.2 

Taboos  of  this  nature  are  not  confined  to  savage  and 
barbarous  communities,  since  the  fear  of  the  death  pol- 
lution has  been  felt  by  various  civilized  peoples  and  has 
found  expression  in  their  funeral  ceremonies.  Thus, 
we  learn  that  in  Rabbinical  times  and  among  some 
modern  Jews,  during  the  shiVa,  or  seven  days  of 
strict  mourning,  "the  relatives  abstain  from  work  and 
remain  at  home,  sitting  on  the  floor  or  on  a  low  bench, 
reading  the  Book  of  Job,  and  receiving  visits  of  con- 
dolence. Bereaved  children  should  abstain  for  a 
year  from  music  and  recreation."3  Outcroppings  of 
the  same  belief  occasionally  manifest  themselves  among 
the  folk  of  Europe.  German  peasants  abstain  from  all 
work,  except  what  is  absolutely  necessary,  before  the 
funeral,4  and  the  Scotch  think  that  "it  is  not  right  to 
spin  if  there  be  a  corpse  in  the  same  township." 5 
This  latter  instance  furnishes  a  close  parallel  to  the 
Eskimo  superstition. 

Feasts  of  the  dead,  the  primitive  All  Souls'  days,  are 
sometimes  occasions  for  abstinence  from  work.  The 
same  custom  may  be  observed  at  times  devoted  to  the 
public  and  ceremonial  expulsion  of  ghosts  and  demons 
from  the  community.6  Here,  as  elsewhere,  we  may 

1  W.  Jochelson,  ibid.,  x,  104^.  5  George    Henderson,    Survivals 

2  W.  G.  Sumner,  "The  Yakuts,"  in  Belief  among  the  Celts,  Glasgow, 
abridged     from     the     Russian     of  1911,  p.  296  (Isle  of  Iriskay). 
Sieroshevski,  Journal  of  the  Anthro-  6  On    feasts    of    All     Souls,    in 
pological  Institute,  1901,  xxxi,  107.  general,  see  Sir  J.  G.  Frazer,  Adonis, 

3  W.  H.  Bennett,  in  Hastings's  Attis,    Osiris?    London,    1914,    ii, 
Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  5 1-83  ;    on  the  public  expulsion  of 
iv,  499.  evils  see  idem,  The  Scapegoat,  Lon- 

4  A.  Wuttke,  Der  deutsche  Folks-  don,  1913,  pp.  109-169.     Compare 
aberglaube  der  Gegenwart,*  edited  by  also   P.    Sartori,   Die  Speisung  der 
E.  H.  Meyer,  Berlin,   1900,  p.  461.  Toten,  Dortmund,  1903,  pp.  48-55. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH     75 

well  raise  the  query  whether  such  proceedings  have 
always  existed  with  the  particular  meaning  now  assigned 
to  them  ;  or  whether  in  many  instances  they  may  not 
hark  back  to  a  "pre-animistic"  epoch  when  the  evil 
influences,  instead  of  being  personified  under  the  form 
of  spirits,  were  more  vaguely  regarded  as  some  mys- 
terious and  infectious  contamination. 

Rites  for  commemorating  kindly  spirits  or  for  expel- 
ling those  of  evil  intent  were  doubtless  first  performed 
at  irregular  intervals,  as  the  supposed  need  for  them 
arose.  They  tend,  however,  to  be  massed  and  assigned 
to  particular  times,  thus  meeting  a  demand  for  order 
and  precision.  Their  celebration  usually  takes  place 
at  a  period  which  coincides  with  well-marked  changes 
of  the  seasons,  or  with  one  of  the  great  epochs  of  the 
agricultural  year,  as  sowing  or  harvest.  They  have  a 
particular  and  appropriate  association  with  the  end  of 
the  old  year  or  with  the  beginning  of  the  new  year,  a 
time  which,  by  many  primitive  peoples,  is  itself  fixed 
with  reference  to  seasonal  changes  or  to  agricultural 
operations. 

Ceremonies  of  ghost-riddance  and  demon-riddance, 
accompanied  by  communal  abstinence,  have  already 
been  noted  in  Polynesia,  Indonesia,  and  southeastern 
Asia.1  They  are  not  unknown  in  Africa.  The  Basuto, 
who  do  no  work  on  the  day  when  an  influential  man 
dies,  also  observe  as  holidays  the  times  of  sacrifice  or  of 
great  purification.  "Hence  it  is,"  writes  a  French 
missionary,  "that  the  law  relative  to  the  repose  of  the 
seventh  day,  so  far  from  finding  any  objection  in  the 
minds  of  the  natives,  appears  to  them  very  natural, 
and  perhaps  even  more  fundamental,  than  it  seems  to 
certain  Christians."  2  The  Bahima,  a  Bantu-speaking 

1  Above,  pp.   13,  21  sq.y  31,  40  the  Matabele  year.     The  late  ruler, 
sqq.,  51,  57.  Lobengula,  compromised  this  self- 

2  E.  Casalis,  Les  Bassoutos,  Paris,  denying  ordinance  by  drinking  beer 
I859>    P-    275.     The    king    of   the  only  out  of  a  bottle.     During  the 
Matabele   was   obliged   to   abstain  new-moon   day  "he  was   supposed 
from  food  and  drink  on  the  new  to   have   communication  with   the 
moon   following   the   beginning   of  spirits    of   his    ancestors,    and    he 


76  REST  DAYS 

tribe  of  Ankole,  a  district  which  lies  immediately  to 
the  west  of  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza,  set  apart  one  day 
each  month  for  festival  purposes.  It  is  then  that  the 
Bahima  seek  to  appease  certain  ghastly,  shrivelled 
demons  who,  though  they  expend  most  of  their  fury 
on  one  another,  frequent  the  kraals  and  occasionally 
take  a  native  by  the  arm  and  shake  him  mercilessly. 
These  demons  are  called  balubale.  Their  placation  is 
said  to  consist  chiefly  of  drum-beating  and  beer-drink- 
ing. "There  is  no  work  on  balubale  day."  1  On  the 
next-to-the-last  day  of  the  year  the  Swaheli  of  German 
East  Africa  observe  an  ancient  custom,  which  probably 
antedates  Mohammedan  influence  in  this  part  of  Africa. 
They  parch  some  millet  and  pour  it,  together  with  ashes, 
on  the  corners  of  their  houses  as  a  prophylactic  against 
the  evil  spirits  supposed  to  be  particularly  troublesome 
at  this  time.  Swaheli  school-children  enjoy  a  holiday 
on  the  last  two  days  of  the  year  and  New  Year's  Day.2 
The  great  national  fete  of  the  fandroana,  marking  the 
commencement  of  the  Malagasy  year,  occurs  at  the  new 
moon  of  the  month  Alahamady,  and  the  first  days  of 
this  month  are  regarded  as  very  unlucky  for  commoners, 
who  therefore  abstain  from  all  activity.3  We  may 
conjecture  that  this  festival,  though  traditionally 
established  only  about  three  centuries  ago,  in  its  present 
form  incorporates  observances  connected  with  the  new 
year  as  a  critical  season.  Some  of  the  Gold  Coast 
tribes  of  west  Africa  hold  a  festival  toward  the  end  of 
August,  called  affirah-bi,  when  there  is  a  general  remem- 
brance of  the  dead.  No  work  may  be  done  during  this 
festival,  which  lasts  eight  days.4  The  Guinea  negroes 

abstained    altogether    from    busi-  H.     H.     Johnston,     The     Uganda 

ness"   (L.   Decle,    Three   Years  in  Protectorate,  London,  1902,  ii,  631  sq. 

Savage     Africa,     London,      1900,  2  C.  Velten,  Sitten  und  Gebrauche 

p.  156).  der  Suaheli,  Gottingen,  1903,  p.  342. 

1  J.  F.  Cunningham,  Uganda  and  3  Soury-Lavergne     and     de     la 

its  Peoples,  London,  1905,  pp.  12  sq.  Deveze,    "La    fete    nationale    du 

The  Bahima  demons,  a  numerous  fandroana   en    Imerina,    Madagas- 

company,     are    mostly    identified  car,"  Anthropos,  1913,  viii,  308. 

with    the    various    maladies    from  4  A.  B.  Ellis,  The  Tshi-speaking 

which  the  natives  suffer.     See  Sir  Peoples,  London,  1887,  pp.  227  sq. 


• 


TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH    77 

would  seem  also  to  perform  annual  rites  for  the  expul- 
sion of  evil  spirits.  The  ceremony  of  demon-riddance, 
formerly  held  at  Cape  Coast  Castle,  on  the  Gold  Coast, 
was  intended  to  drive  the  devil  Abonsam  out  of  the 
town  by  means  of  an  unearthly  uproar  of  shouts, 
screams,  beating  of  sticks,  rattling  of  pans,  and  firing 
of  guns,  in  which  all  the  inhabitants  joined.  "The 
custom  is  preceded  by  four  weeks'  dead  silence ;  no 
gun  is  allowed  to  be  fired,  no  drum  to  be  beaten,  no 
palaver  to  be  made  between  man  and  man.  If,  during 
these  weeks,  two  natives  should  disagree  and  make  a 
noise  in  the  town,  they  are  immediately  taken  before 
the  king  and  fined  heavily.  If  a  dog  or  pig,  sheep  or 
goat  be  found  at  large  in  the  street,  it  may  be  killed,  or 
taken  by  any  one,  the  former  owner  not  being  allowed 
to  demand  any  compensation.  This  silence  is  designed 
to  deceive  Abonsam,  that,  being  off  his  guard,  he  may 
be  taken  by  surprise  and  frightened  out  of  the  place. 
If  any  one  die  during  the  silence,  his  relatives  are  not 
allowed  to  weep  until  the  four  weeks  have  been  com- 
pleted." 1 

The  Yoruba  tribes  of  the  Slave  Coast  celebrate  every 
June  an  All  Souls'  festival  lasting  seven  days.  It 
resembles  the  affirah-bi  rites,  but  the  ceremony  is  held 
in  honour  of  Egungun,  who  is  supposed  to  have  risen 
from  the  dead  and  after  whom  a  powerful  secret  society 
has  been  named.2  Since  in  west  Africa,  as  in  some  other 
parts  of  the  world,  secret  societies  are  intimately  related 
to  the  cult  of  the  dead,3  it  may  be  that  the  tabooed  days, 
observed  when  these  organizations  hold  their  cere- 
monies, were  once  connected  with  feasts  of  the  dead  or 
expulsion  of  ghosts.  The  belief  may  also  exist  that  the 
god  of  the  secret  society  affects  with  his  holiness  the 

^'Extracts  from  Diary  of  the  2A.  B. .Ellis,  The  Yoruba-speak- 

late  Rev.  John  Martin,  Wesleyan  ing    Peoples,    London,    1894,    pp. 

Missionary  in  West  Africa,  1843-  107  sq. 

1848,"    Man,    1912,    xii,    138    sq.  3  See     H.     Webster,     Primitive 

Compare    A.    J.    N.     Tremearne,  Secret  Societies,  New  York,   1908, 

The  Tailed  Head-hunters  of  Nigeria,  pp.  104  sq. 
London,  1912,  pp.  202  sq. 


78  REST  DAYS 

day  of  his  public  appearance,  and  so  makes  it  unfit 
for  business.  However,  the  taboos  seem  now  to  be 
maintained  chiefly  as  a  means  of  securing  the  respectful 
attention  of  non-initiates,  particularly  women.  The 
presence  in  Yoruba  towns  of  the  bugbear  god  Oro 
compels  women  to  seclude  themselves  from  seven 
o'clock  in  the  evening  until  five  o'clock  in  the  morning.1 
On  the  great  feast  days  of  Oro  women  must  remain 
indoors  from  daybreak  till  noon.2  A  native  writer 
points  out  that  these  Oro  confinements,  as  they  may 
be  called,  are  declared  in  times  of  political  crisis,  when 
a  new  law  or  other  measure  of  importance  is  under 
consideration,  and  whenever  a  sacrifice  is  offered  in 
behalf  of  the  community.  The  streets  are  then  cleared 
of  all  unseemly  traffic  and  of  women,  in  order  to  permit 
the  god  and  his  followers  to  appear  abroad  without 
danger  of  contamination.3  Again,  in  Old  Calabar, 
when  the  great  egbo  society  visits  a  community,  all 
business  is  suspended,  all  doors  are  shut,  and  absolute 
silence  prevails.  On  the  departure  of  the  god  and  his 
attendant  mummers,  the  town-bell  is  rung  in  a  peculiar 
way  to  indicate  that  normal  occupations  may  be  now 
resumed.  The  cessation  of  business  on  the  occasion 
of  these  visits  of  egbo  may  last  a  day,  but  frequently 
extends  to  two  or  three  days.  In  the  latter  case, 
however,  the  strict  rule  of  seclusion  is  relaxed  for  an 
hour  or  more  to  permit  the  holding  of  the  daily  market.4 
During  an  egbo  visitation  it  would  be  death  for  any  one 
not  a  member  of  the  order  to  venture  forth ;  even 
members  themselves,  if  their  grade  is  lower  than  that 
which  controls  the  proceedings  for  the  day,  would  be 
severely  whipped.6 

1Mrs.  R.  B.  Batty,  in  Journal  3R.E.  Dennett,  Nigerian  Studies, 

of    the     Anthropological     Institute,  London,  1910,  pp.  41  sq.,  quoting 

1889,  xix,  1 60.  Adesola  in  the  Nigerian  Chronicle. 

2  Ellis,  Yoruba-speaking  Peoples,  4  J.  B.  Walker,  in  Journal  of  the 

pp.    no    sq.     The    Oro    rites    are  Anthropological  Institute,   1877,  vi, 

attributed   by  Ellis  to  the  ogboni  1 21  sq. 

society,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  6  T.  J.  Hutchinson,  Impressions 

term  "Oro"  is  also  applied  toother  of  Western  Africa,  London,    1858, 

secret  associations  of  Yorubaland.  pp.  141  sq. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH    79 

The  festivals  of  the  dead,  observed  in  classical  an- 
tiquity, were  marked  by  taboos.  Among  the  Greeks 
the  rites  took  place  on  the  so-called  a7ro<£/oaSes  i^ucpat, 
unlucky  days  accompanied  by  complete  idleness  and 
cessation  of  business.  "At  such  times  no  one  would 
address  any  one  else,  friends  avoided  all  intercourse 
with  one  another,  and  even  sanctuaries  were  not  used."  1 
Ancient  authorities  also  refer  to  these  days  as  times  when 
magistrates  suspended  their  functions,  when  courts  were 
closed,  when  sacrifices  were  not  offered  and  oracular 
responses  were  not  delivered,  and  when  people  refrained 
from  any  business  which  it  was  hoped  would  have  a 
prosperous  outcome.2  At  Athens  the  festival  of  the 
Genesia,  an  annual  commemoration  of  the  dead,  oc- 
curred on  the  fifth  of  Boedromion,  a  day  which  was 
included  among  the  a7ro<£/oaSes  ^/ue/Hu.3  Three  more 
unlucky  days  were  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  thirteenth 
of  Anthesterion,  when  the  Athenians  celebrated  the 
festival  of  the  Anthesteria.  Though  in  outward  sem- 
blance only  a  brilliant  ceremony  in  honour  of  Dionysus, 
the  Anthesteria  had  also  a  sombre  significance  as  the 
time  when  the  shades  of  the  dead  issued  from  the 
underworld  and  walked  the  streets.4  Ropes  were 
fastened  round  the  temples  to  keep  out  the  wandering 
ghosts,  and  the  people  smeared  their  houses  with  pitch 

1  Scholium  on  Lucian,  Timon,  43.  can  be  traced  back  to  Hesiod  (Opera 

2  Plato,  Leges,  vii,  800;   Lucian,  et  dies,  802  sqq.). 

Pseudologistes,    12;     Plutarch,    De  4  Compare  Hesychius,  s.v.  fiiapcu 

El   apud   Delphos,    20;    idem,    De  yficpcu.    (ed.    Schmidt,   col.    1045): 

defectu  oraculorum,  14;    idem,  Vita  "the  polluted  days  of  the  month  of 

Alexandria     i^;      Hesychius,     s.v.  Anthesterion,  on  which  days  they 

d7ro<#>pa8cs  ^tepai  (ed.  M.  Schmidt,  think  that  the  souls  of  the  departed 

Jena,  1867,  C<>1-  211).  are  sent  up  from  the  nether  world." 

3  E.  Rhode,  Psyche,6  Tubingen,  Photius,  s.v.  /uapa   fjfjLcpa    (ed.   S. 
1910,    p.    235;     P.    Stengel,    Die  A.    Naber,    Leiden,    1864-1865,    i, 
griechischen   Sakralaltertiimer,   Mu-  423),  says  that  on  the  second  day 
nich,  1890,  p.  156  (with  references  the  people  used  to  chew  buckthorn 
to  the  classical  authorities).     The  and  anoint  their  doors  with  pitch, 
fifth  day  of  every  Athenian  month  See  Frazer's  note  (The  Scapegoat, 
was  regarded  as  unpropitious,  and  p.  153  rc.1)  on  the  widespread  use 
hence   was   not  dedicated   to   any  of  buckthorn  and  pitch  as  prophy- 
divinity.     A    superstitious    avoid-  lactics    against    ghosts    and 
ance  of  the  "fifths'*  of  the  month  influences. 


8o 


REST  DAYS 


to  catch  any  rash  intruders  into  the  dwellings  of  living 
men.  For  the  entertainment  of  the  unseen  guests 
during  their  short  stay  pots  of  boiled  food  were  every- 
where placed  in  the  streets ;  but  at  the  end  of  the 
festival  the  souls  were  roughly  bidden  to  depart.  The 
Anthesteria,  in  substance,  thus  formed  one  of  those 
numerous  ceremonies  for  the  riddance  of  ghosts  by 
means  of  feasting  and  placation  which  have  so  wide  a 
diffusion  in  the  lower  culture.1 

Corresponding  to  the  Greek  aTro^paSe?  ^/icpat  were 
the  Roman  dies  religiosi,  true  days  of  abstinence,  when 
it  was  unlucky  to  begin  a  journey  or  to  undertake  any 
important  business.  During  their  continuance  temples 
and  law  courts  were,  or  ought  to  be,  closed,  magistrates 
laid  aside  the  insignia  of  office,  armies  did  not  march, 
and  no  marriages  took  place.2  Among  the  dies  religiosi 
were  those  on  which  the  Romans  celebrated  two  fes- 
tivals of  the  dead,  the  so-called  Parentalia  in  February, 
the  last  month  of  the  old  Roman  year,  and  the  Lemuria 


1  On  the  Anthesteria,  from  an 
anthropological  standpoint,  see  par- 
ticularly Miss  Jane  E.  Harrison, 

Prolegomena  to  the  Study  of  Greek 


Religion,  Cambridge,  1903,  pp.  32 
sqq.,  49  sqq.  Dr.  L.  R.  Farnell 
thinks  that  only  in  the  ritual  for 


the  third  and  final  day  of  the  An- 
thesteria have  we  a  genuine  cere- 
mony of  ghost-riddance,  this  day 
falling  so  near  the  Dionysiac  cele- 
bration as  to  become  attached  to 
the  latter  as  a  mournful  finale 
(The  Cults  of  the  Greek  States,  Ox- 
ford, 1906-1910,  y,  215  sqq.}.  But, 
on  this  view,  it  is  difficult  to  see 
why  the  second  day,  the  Choes, 
should  have  been  expressly  men- 
tioned as  "polluted"  (/xtapa),  and 
why  the  first  day  ,  the  Pithoigia, 
should  have  been  described  as 
"totally  unlucky"  (es  TO  TTO.V  0,71-0- 


2  Festus,  De  verborum  significa- 
tione,  ed.  C.  O.  Miiller,  Leipzig, 
1839,  p.  iuMcsroq,  Satuar-iS6', 


nalia,  i,  16,  24.  The  dies  religiosi 
were  sometimes  confused,  even  by 
the  ancients,  with  the  dies  nefasti 
(compare  Gellius,  Noctes  Atticce, 
iv,  9,  5),  which  were  days  marked  in 
the  calendar  as  occasions  when  the 
praetor's  court  was  not  open  and 
assemblies  (comitia)  could  not  law- 
fully meet.  But  not  all  dies  reli- 
giosi were  observed  as  non-comi- 
tial  and  non-judicial  days.  It 
seems,  indeed,  that  the  priestly 
authorities  who  drew  up  the  calen- 
dar did  not  wish  to  recognize  these 
products  of  popular  superstition  by 
incorporating  all  of  them,  under  the 
guise  of  dies  nefasti,  in  the  Roman 
state  religion.  On  the  dies  religiosi, 
also  described  as  dies  atri  or  dies 
vitiosi,  see  G.  Wissowa,  Religion 
und  Kultus  der  Romer,  Munich, 
1902,  pp.  376  sq.;  W.  W.  Fowler, 
The  Religious  Experience  of  the 
Roman  People,  London,  191 1,  pp.  38 
sqq.;  T.  Mommsen,  in  Corpus  in- 
scriptionum  Latinarum,  i,  pt.  i,2  296. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH    81 

in  May.  The  February  celebration,  from  the  thirteenth 
to  the  twenty-first  of  that  month,  has  been  taken  to 
embody  all  that  was  least  superstitious  and  fearful  in 
the  generally  terrifying  worship  of  the  dead.  The 
Lemuria  (May  9,  n,  13),  had  rather  an  opposite  char- 
acter and  probably  represents  the  more  ancient  rite 
for  the  expulsion  of  the  ghosts  of  the  dead.1  The  three 
days  in  the  Roman  year,  August  24,  October  5,  and 
November  8,  when  the  door  of  the  Lower  World  was 
unclosed  for  the  spirits  of  the  dead  to  come  forth  — 
quibus  mundus  patet  —  were  also  religiosi,  or  unlucky. 
"When  the  mundus  is  open,"  said  Varro,  "the  gate  of 
the  doleful  underworld  gods  is  open ;  therefore,  it  is 
not  proper  on  those  days  for  a  battle  to  be  fought, 
troops  to  be  levied,  the  army  to  march  forth,  a  ship  to 
set  sail,  or  a  man  to  marry."  2 

To  the  Hebrews  the  Day  of  Atonement  was  a  shab- 
bdth  shabbdthon*  the  holiest  of  rest  days,  ua  Sabbath  of 
solemn  rest,"  when  "no  manner  of  work"  might  be  per- 
formed. The  transgressor  of  this  regulation  was  threat- 
ened with  death  :  "Whoever  doeth  any  work  at  all  on 
that  same  day,  I  will  destroy  from  among  his  people."  4 
A  similar  punishment  was  prescribed  for  one  who  did 
not  fast  on  that  day;  the  expression  "to  afflict  your 
souls"  ('innd  nephesh)  was  considered  by  late  the- 
ologians to  be  a  synonym  for  fasting,  and  as  a  matter  of 
fact  the  Atonement  fast  was  the  only  one  enjoined  by 
the  Law.  On  the  Day  of  Atonement  a  goat,  laden 
with  the  sins  of  the  people,  was  sent  forth  into  the  wild- 

1  Gellius,    op.    cit.,    iv,    9,     5 ;  times,  was  not  a  state  festival,  but 

Varro,  De  lingua  Latina,  vi,  29  sq. ;  a  purely  domestic  affair. 

Ovid,  Fasti,  v,  419-486;    W.  W.  2  Varro,  ap.  Macrobius,  op.  cit., 

Fowler,  The  Roman  Festivals  of  the  i,  16,  18;    Festus,  op.  cit.,  p.  156. 

Period    of   the    Republic,    London,  Compare  Fowler,  "Mundus  Patet," 

1899,  pp.   106  sqq.,  306  sqq.     The  Journal  of  Roman  Studies,  1912,11, 

first  eight  days  of  the  Parentalia  25-33. 

belonged    only    to    the    sphere    of  3  Both  expressions  are  commonly 

family    worship,     but    the    ninth  derived  from  the  Babylonian  shabat- 

day   (Feb.   21)   was   also  a  public  turn;  see  below,  p.  235. 

celebration,  known  as  the  Feralia.  4  Leviticus,  xvi,  31,  xxiii,  26-32; 

The  Lemuria,  at  least  in  historic  compare  Numbers,  xxix,  7. 

G 


82  REST  DAYS 

erness,  where  it  was  sacrificed  to  Azazel,  a  bad  angel 
or  demon.  In  the  later  centuries  of  Jewish  history 
this  rite  took  on  a  more  spiritual  character,  as  the 
ceremonial  aspects  of  sin  and  atonement  became  in- 
creasingly prominent. 

The  Day  of  Atonement  has  been  usually  considered 
a  very  late  institution,  unknown  in  the  time  of  Zech- 
ariah  and  even  in  the  age  of  Nehemiah  not  employed  for 
the  special  purpose  of  a  national  humiliation.  What 
seems  more  probable  is  that  the  Day  of  Atonement  was 
taken  over  and  adopted  into  the  Priestly  Code  of  post- 
Exilic  Judaism  from  a  popular  and  primitive  ceremony 
of  sin-riddance,  doubtless  of  high  antiquity.  It  is 
to  be  observed  that  the  fast  was  held  on  the  tenth  day 
of  the  seventh  month,  a  day  which  appears  to  have 
marked,  originally,  the  beginning  of  the  new  year.1 
This  would  have  been  an  appropriate  time  for  an  annual 
ceremony  of  purification,  since  the  new  year  is  so  fre- 
quently observed  with  ceremonies  of  a  cathartic  or 
apotropaic  character.  Even  in  late  Old  Testament 
ritual,  New  Year's  Day,  celebrated  as  the  Feast  of 
Trumpets  on  the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month,  was 
also  a  shabbdth  shabbdthon,  a  time  of  "solemn  rest" 
and  of  "holy  convocation."  No  toilsome  work  might 
then  be  performed ;  trumpets  were  to  be  blown,  per- 
haps to  indicate  its  solemnity,  and  special  sacrifices 
were  to  be  offered.2  Moreover,  certain  features  of  the 
Atonement  ceremony,  especially  that  of  the  sin-laden 
goat,  which  has  so  many  parallels  among  the  lower 
races,3  strengthen  the  probability  that  the  ritual  for  the 
day  represents  an  elaboration  of  earlier  and  simpler 
customs  familiar  in  pre-Exilic  times.  If  this  be  true, 

1  Leviticus,  xxv,  9',   Ezekiel,x\,i.  hausen,  Prolegomena  zur  Geschichte 

2  Leviticus,  xxiii,  23-25 ;    Num-  Israels?     Berlin,     1905,     p.     1 05 
bers,  xxix,  1-7.     It  has  been  sug-  n.2;  see  below,  p.  247  n.2).     In  the 
gested  that  the  first  ten  days  of  ritual  of  the  Jewish    church    they 
the  seventh  month  were  epagom-  are    described    as    days    of  "peni- 
enal,  bridging  the  gap,  as  it  were,  tence.' 


between  the  old  lunar  year  of  355  3  See  Sir  J.  G.  Frazer,  The  Scape- 

days  and  the  solar  year  (J.  Well- 


goat,  London,  1913,  pp.  170  sqq. 


TABOOED  DAYS  AFTER  A  DEATH 


it  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  the  "  Sabbath  of 
solemn  rest"  forms  likewise  a  survival  from  a  still  ruder 
past,  when  sin  was  conceived  so  materially  as  a  con- 
taminating influence  that  common  prudence  dictated 
abstinence  from  work  and  other  activities  at  a  critical 
season  devoted  to  the  driving-out  of  evil.1 

Ideas  of  this  sort  live  long  in  the  minds  of  men. 
The .  greatest  of  Mohammedan  festivals,  the  so-called 
Feast  of  Sacrifices,  is  now  celebrated  as  a  means  of 
securing  moral  purification  and  blessing.  But  the 
ceremony  rests  on  a  heathen  basis,  and  its  principal 
feature,  an  animal  sacrifice,  was  borrowed  by  Islam  from 
Arabian  paganism.  An  eminent  authority,  who  has 
noticed  the  striking  prevalence  of  cathartic  ceremonies 
at  the  Great  Feast,  suggests  that  its  primary  object 
may  have  been  to  expel  evils  which  were  supposed  to 
threaten  the  people  at  the  time  of  the  year  when  the 
sacrifice  occurred.  " Throughout  Morocco  the  first 
day  of  the  feast  is  kept  as  a  holiday,  both  by  men  and 
women,  and  so  is  generally  the  second  day  also,  which 
in  some  places  is  regarded  as  a  particularly  dangerous 
time.  I  am  told  that  anybody  who  should  work  on  that 
day  would  have  some  grave  misfortune  —  robbers  would 
kill  him  at  night,  or  some  of  his  children  or  animals 
would  die,  or  he  would  be  struck  with  blindness  —  and 
travelling  on  that  day  is  likewise  supposed  to  be  accom- 
panied with  danger.  But  labour  is  also  suspended  on 
other  days  of  the  feast,  especially  by  the  women."  2 

1  On  the  relation  of  the  Hebrew 
kipper,  or  atonement,  to  the  Assyr- 
ian kuppuru  and  the  connection 
of  both  with  ideas  of  taboo,  see 
R.  C.  Thompson,  The  Devils  and 
Evil  Spirits  of  Babylonia,  London, 
1904,  ii,  pp.  1  sqq.  It  is  unneces- 
sary to  accept  his  conclusion  that 
the  Hebrew  ceremony  was  directly 
borrowed  from  Babylonia.  The 
view  advanced  in  the  text  as  to  the 
antiquity  of  the  Atonement  rite 
may  now  claim  the  support  of 
Professor  Grimme,  who  sees  in  this 


ceremony  one  of  the  oldest  elements 
of  the  Law  and  finds  the  prototype 
of  Azazel  in  the  hairy  demons  which 
were  believed  to  haunt  the  wilder- 
ness of  northern  Arabia.  See  H. 
Grimme,  "Das  Alter  des  israelitis- 
chen  Versohnungstages,"  Archiv 
fur  Religionsivissenschaft,  1911,  xiv, 
130-142. 

2  E.  Westermarck,  "The  Popu- 
lar Ritual  of  the  Great  Feast  in 
Morocco,"  Folk-lore,  1911,  xxii, 
157  sq.,  1 80  sqq. 


84  REST  DAYS 

The  evidence  presented  in  this  chapter  raises  once 
more  the  perplexing  and  much-debated  problem  of  the 
diffusion  of  culture.  The  custom  of  keeping  tabooed 
days  after  a  death  may  be  properly  described  as  world- 
wide, since  it  exists  in  all  the  continents.  And  the 
observance  as  Sabbaths  of  periods  devoted  to  the  pro- 
pitiation or  expulsion  of  spirits,  though  less  common, 
has  been  also  traced  among  many  half-civilized  tribes 
of  Oceania,  Asia,  and  Africa,  as  well  as  in  classic  Greece 
and  Rome.  Within  contiguous  areas,  for  example,  in 
Borneo  and  the  adjoining  islands,  or  among  related 
peoples,  such  as  the  American  and  Asiatic  Eskimo,  it 
is  reasonable  to  ascribe  the  uniformity  of  custom  to 
long-continued  borrowing.  Again,  the  close  resem- 
blance between  the  Greek  and  the  Roman  superstitions 
relating  to  unlucky  days — the  cbro^paSes  rjpepcu,  and  the 
dies  religiosi  —  is  satisfactorily  accounted  for  by  the 
hypothesis  of  a  common  inheritance  from  prehistoric 
antiquity.  But  where  tabooed  days  are  observed  for 
the  same  reasons  by  unrelated  peoples,  who,  as  far  as 
our  knowledge  reaches,  have  never  been  in  cultural  con- 
tact, the  student  is  obliged  to  conclude  that  the  beliefs 
underlying  the  custom  in  question  have  not  been 
narrowly  limited  but  belong  to  the  general  stock  of 
primitive  ideas.  In  such  cases  the  doctrine  of  the 
fundamental  unity  of  the  human  mind  seems  alone  to 
be  capable  of  explaining  the  astonishing  similarity  of 
its  products  at  different  times  and  in  different  parts  of 
the  world. 


CHAPTER  III 


HOLY   DAYS 

THERE  exists,  perhaps,  no  shorter  road  to  the  com- 
prehension of  a  religion  as  a  social  product  than  through 
the  study  of  its  festivals.  They  are  preeminently  social 
in  character;  they  give  expression  to  the  feelings  of 
an  entire  community,  whether  clan,  tribe,  or  nation; 
and  in  their  development  they  are  closely  associated 
with  the  general  progress  of  society.  As  civilization 
develops,  festivals  tend  to  increase  in  number,  to  elabo- 
rate their  ritual,  and  to  fix  more  precisely  the  time  and 
order  of  their  celebration.  It  becomes  the  business  ot  a 
particular  class  —  the  priesthood  —  to  establish  and 
maintain  a  calendar  of  sacred  seasons.  We  may 
assume  with  some  confidence  that  the  priestly  attitude 
in  such  matters  has  not  been  entirely  disinterested. 
The  holy  day,  observed  with  worship,  sacrifice,  and 
offerings,  must  contribute  directly  to  the  well-being 
and  prestige  of  the  sacerdotal  order. 

"The  Greeks  and  the  barbarians,"  declares  an  an- 
cient geographer,  "have  this  in  common,  that  they  ac- 
company their  sacred  rites  by  a  festal  remission  of 
labour."  1  In  fact  most  festivals  are  celebrated  as 
holidays,  when  men  give  up  secular  occupations  and 
devote  themselves  to  religious  exercises  and  relaxation. 
Festivals,  in  consequence,  assume  with  advancing 
culture  a  great  significance  from  the  economic  and 
sociological  standpoint.  For  the  peasant  and  the 
artisan  they  provide  welcome  relief  from  physical  exer- 
tion, and  for  all  ranks  of  society  their  pageants  and 
processions,  their  games,  feasts,  and  merry-makings 

1  Strabo,  Geographica,  x,  3,  9. 
85 


86  REST  DAYS 

give  an  outlet  to  the  play  instincts  of  mankind.  We 
must  not  conclude,  however,  that  the  remission  of 
labour  accompanying  a  festival  has  always  been  dic- 
tated by  practical  and  non-superstitious  considerations. 
It  has  been  already  pointed  out  that  in  some  fairly 
rude  communities  abstinence  from  work  is  a  part  of  the 
regular  procedure  for  facing  a  crisis  and  the  spiritual 
dangers  supposed  to  characterize  such  an  occasion. 
The  rest  is  a  measure  of  protection  and  propitiation, 
quite  as  much  as  the  fasts,  the  sacrifices,  and  the 
prayers  by  which  it  may  be  attended.  Where  ideas 
of  this  nature  prevail,  all  labour  becomes  tabu. 

As  we  pass  from  savagery  to  barbarism  and  from 
animism  to  polytheism,  the  notion  of  taboo,  at  first 
vague  and  indeterminate,  tends  to  differentiate  into 
the  twin  concepts  of  impurity  and  holiness.  This 
differentiation,  indeed,  is  never  perfectly  accomplished 
even  by  peoples  which  have  reached  some  measure  of 
civilization ;  and  the  lower  races  find  still  greater  diffi- 
culty in  distinguishing  between  what  is  dangerous, 
because  polluted,  and  what  is  dangerous,  because 
sacred.  The  "holy"  thing  and  the  "unclean" 
thing  possess  alike  the  mystic  potency,  the  magico- 
spiritual  power,  the  mana  or  orenda,  to  employ  a 
terminology  which  expresses  early  man's  sense  of  being 
ever  surrounded  by  unknown  agencies,  among  which  he 
must  walk  warily,  if  he  is  to  walk  in  safety.1 

To  the  primitive  mind  the  sanctity  which  attaches  to 
the  divine  chief  and  king,  to  such  objects  of  special 
reverence  as  bull-roarers,  idols,  and  altars,  and  also  to 
certain  places  and  shrines,  is  sufficiently  material  to  be 
transmissible  and  to  be  capable  of  infecting  with  its 
mysterious  qualities  whatever  is  done  at  a  particular 
time.  The  notion  of  the  transmissibility  of  holiness 

1  The  best  study  of  holiness  in  further   N.    Soderblom,    "Holiness 

its  relation  to  the  concept  of  taboo  (General    and    Primitive),"    Hast- 

is  still  that  of  W.  Robertson  Smith  ings's  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and 

(The     Religion     of     the     Semites?  Ethics,  vi,  731-741. 
London,    1894,  chaps,   iv-v).     See 


HOLY  DAYS  87 


might  seem  of  itself  to  furnish  a  sufficient  reason  for 
abstaining  from  ordinary  occupations  on  a  sacred  day  : 
the  power  that  blesses  can  also  blast.  In  practice, 
however,  this  idea  appears  to  mingle  quite  inextricably 
with  the  opposite  though  related  conception  that  what 
is  holy  can  be  contaminated  by  contact  with  the  secular 
and  the  profane.  Furthermore,  when  holy  days  come 
to  be  definitely  consecrated  to  deities,  who  at  such 
times  are  believed  to  be  present  among  their  wor- 
shippers, it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  belief  arises  that  a  god 
is  pleased  and  flattered  by  the  enforced  idleness  of  his 
devotees.  Abstinence  from  work  then  takes  its  place 
among  other  rites  as  a  recognized  way  of  expressing  a 
proper  reverence  for  the  divinity;  while,  conversely, 
to  labour  on  his  holy  day  implies  a  disrespectful  atti- 
tude toward  him.  These  are  sentiments  reasonably 
certain  of  continued  development,  as  priestly  influence 
becomes  predominant  in  any  community.  "The  Lord 
thy  God  is  a  jealous  God."  1 

The  consecration  of  a  particular  day  to  a  divinity  is  a 
common  feature  of  polytheistic  cults.  Had  we  definite 
information  concerning  the  origin  and  development 
of  the  great  deities  of  the  higher  religions,  it  would 
probably  appear  that  in  most  instances  their  connection 
with  particular  days  is  a  secondary  rather  than  a  pri- 
mary formation.  In  other  words  a  period  dedicated 
to  a  god  and  observed  by  his  worshippers  with  absti- 

1  "  In  economic  theory,"  writes  the  body  of  the  people.     The  trib- 

Dr.  Thorstein  Veblen,  "sacred  holi-  ute  is  paid  in  vicarious  leisure,  and 

days  are  obviously  to  be  construed  the  honourific  effect  which  emerges 

as  a  season  of  vicarious  leisure  per-  is  imputed  to  the  person  or  the  fact 

formed  for  the  divinity  or  saint  in  for  whose  good  repute  the  holiday 

whose  name  the  tabu  is  imposed  and  has  been  instituted.     Such  a  tithe 

to  whose  good  repute  the  absten-  of  vicarious  leisure  is  a  perquisite 

tion  from  useful  effort  on  those  days  of  all  members  of  the  preternatural 

is  conceived  to  inure.     The  char-  leisure   class   and   is   indispensable 

acteristic  feature  of  all  such  seasons  to  their  good  fame.     Un  saint  qu'on 

of  devout  vicarious  leisure  is  a  more  ne  chdme  pas  is  indeed  a  saint  fallen 

or  less  rigid  tabu  on  all  activity  that  on  evil  days"  (The  Theory  of  the 

is  of  human  use.  .  .  .     Sacred  holi-  Leisure    Class >    New    York,    1899, 

days,   and   holidays  generally,   are  pp.  309  sq.). 
of  the  nature  of  a  tribute  levied  on 


88  REST  DAYS 

nence  from  labour  may  once  have  been  a  season  of 
taboo  for  other  and  quite  different  reasons.  Some  per- 
tinent instances  of  tabooed  days  which  grew  into  holy 
days  have  already  engaged  our  attention.1  Thus,  in  the 
comparatively  well-developed  religious  system  of  the 
Hawaiians  the  New  Year's  festival  was  consecrated  to 
the  god  Lono;  but  the  same  festival  in  Fiji  was  not 
associated  with  any  particular  divinity.  Again,  the 
Hawaiians  observed  in  every  month  four  tabu  periods, 
which  were  severally  dedicated  to  the  great  gods  of  the 
native  pantheon,  Ku,  Hua,  Kaloa,  and  Kane.  That 
these  Sabbaths  had  originally  no  connection  with  any 
divinity  and  arose  in  consequence  of  superstitious  beliefs 
regarding  lunar  phenomena  is  a  highly  probable  conclu- 
sion, when  we  recall  the  numerous  taboos  attaching  to  the 
phases  of  the  moon,  for  instance,  among  the  Dyak  tribes 
of  Borneo.  Once  more,  the  attribution  of  the  Bontoc 
Igorot  tengao,  or  rest  day,  to  Lumawig,  the  only  god 
throughout  the  Bontoc  culture  area,  cannot  be  earlier 
than  the  emergence  of  this  supreme  being  from  the 
crowd  of  spirits  in  which  the  native  so  firmly  believes. 
Lastly,  we  have  seen  how,  in  the  case  of  the  Athenian 
Anthesteria,  the  attribution  of  the  festival  to  Dionysus 
and  the  cheerful  associations  with  which  the  fancy  of 
the  Greeks  invested  it  represent  a  comparatively  late 
development. 

If  many  holy  days  of  polytheistic  cults  were  once 
tabooed  days,  it  follows  that  a  taboo  element  may  be 
,  looked  for  in  various  religious  celebrations  which  in  out- 
ward semblance  have  only  a  festive,  happy  character. 
Particularly  does  this  seem  to  be  true  of  the  numerous 
rites  observed  by  the  Dravidian  peoples  of  India. 
The  Kota,  an  aboriginal  tribe  of  the  Nilgiri  Hills,  hold 
an  annual  feast,  called  kambata  or  kamata,  in  honour  of 
Kamataraya.  It  lasts  about  a  fortnight.  On  the 
second  day  of  the  festival  no  work  may  be  done  except 
digging  clay  and  making  pots.2  The  Uraon  keep  three 

1  Above,  pp.  13,  15,  47,  49,  79.        Primitive  Tribes  and  Monuments  of 

2  J.  W.  B  reeks,  An  Account  of  the      the  Nilagiris,  London,  1873,  p.  44. 


HOLY  DAYS  89 

great  feasts  during  the  year.  The  first,  known  as 
sarhul,  occurs  in  May.  Its  object  is  said  to  be  the 
celebration  of  the  mystical  marriage  of  the  sun-god 
with  the  earth-goddess,  in  order  that  they  may  become 
fruitful  and  consequently  bestow  good  crops.  At  the 
same  time  the  Uraon  take  care  to  propitiate  all  the 
village  spirits,  lest  the  latter  should  frustrate  the  efforts 
of  Sun  and  Earth  to  increase  and  multiply.  On  the 
eve  of  the  appointed  day  no  one  is  allowed  to  plough 
his  fields.1  In  Bengal,  Mother  Earth  is  the  object  of 
much  devotion.  The  goddess  generally  manifests  her- 
self as  the  benignant  source  of  all  things,  the  giver  of  the 
fruits  of  the  earth.  But  sometimes  she  brings  disease 
and  hence  requires  propitiation.  The  chief  festival 
in  her  honour  occurs  at  the  end  of  the  hot  season,  when 
she  is  supposed  to  suffer  from  the  impurity  common 
to  women.  All  ploughing,  sowing,  and  other  work 
cease  at  this  time,  and  Bengali  widows  refrain  from 
eating  cooked  rice.2  A  very  similar  festival,  called 
ucharal,  is  celebrated  by  the  natives  of  the  Malabar 
coast  at  the  end  of  January,  when  Mother  Earth  has 
her  annual  menstruation.  For  three  days  at  this  time 
the  people  stop  all  work,  except  hunting :  the  house 
may  not  be  cleaned ;  the  daily  smearing  of  the  floor 
with  cow-dung  is  discontinued ;  and  even  gardens  may 
not  be  watered.3  The  village  rites  observed  by  the 
Telugu,  Kanarese,  and  Tamil  peoples  of  southern  India, 
in  honour  of  their  local  deities,  though  unattended  by 
compulsory  abstinence  from  labour,  are  clearly  of  a 
propitiatory  character.  In  this  respect  they  are  analo- 
gous to  the  genna  customs  in  Assam.  Usually  the 
people  hold  no  regular  festival,  but  perform  their  rites 
of  sacrifice  only  when  some  great  misfortune  —  an  out- 
break of  cholera,  smallpox,  cattle  disease,  or  drought  — 

1  P.  Dehon,  in  Memoirs  of  the  3  C.  K.  Menon,  "  Some  Agricul- 
Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  1906,  i,  tural  Ceremonies  in  Malabar,"  Mad- 
no,  i,  p.  144.  ras  Government  Museum,  Bulletin, 

2  W.  Crooke,  Natives  of  Northern  1906,  v,  104  sq. 
India,  London,  1907,  p.  232. 


90  REST  DAYS 

has  convinced  them  that  evil  spirits  are  about  and 
active.  "I  have  dignified,"  writes  the  Bishop  of 
Madras,  "the  periodical  sacrifices  to  the  village  god- 
desses by  the  name  of  festivals.  But  the  term  is  a 
misnomer.  There  is  really  nothing  of  a  festal  char- 
acter about  them.  They  are  only  gloomy  and  weird 
rites  for  the  propitiation  of  angry  deities  or  the  driving 
away  of  evil  spirits,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  detect 
any  traces  of  a  spirit  of  thankfulness  or  praise.  Even 
the  term  worship  is  hardly  correct.  The  object  of 
all  the  various  rites  and  ceremonies  is  not  to  worship 
the  deity  in  any  true  sense  of  the  word,  but  simply 
to  propitiate  and  avert  its  wrath."  The  propitiatory 
feature  is  not  absent  from  some  of  the  purely  Hindu 
festivals,  which  in  this  respect  may  have  been  affected 
by  the  cults  of  the  aboriginal  peoples  of  India.2 

One  of  the  Hebrew  agricultural  festivals  described 
in  the  Old  Testament  furnishes  an  instance  of  what 
seem  to  be  ancient  taboos  surviving  in  a  developed  re- 
ligious ritual.  In  the  post-Exilic  calendar  the  Day 
of  First-fruits,  inaugurating  the  Feast  of  Weeks,  was 
declared  to  be  a  time  of  "holy  convocation,"  when  no 
"  servile  work  "  was  allowable.3  Now,  primitive  peoples 
quite  commonly  observe  various  ceremonies  in  connec- 
tion with  first-fruits,  particularly  a  sacramental  eating 
of  them  preliminary  to  general  use.4  With  advancing 

1  Henry  Whitehead,  "The  Vil-  smallpox."     See  E.   W.   Hopkins, 
lage   Deities  of  Southern   India,"  The    Religions    of    India,   Boston, 
Madras  Government  Museum,  Bui-  1895,  p.   452  w.2;    H.    H.   Wilson, 
letin,  1907,  v,  128  sq.     The  whole  Essays  and  Lectures  chiefly  on  the 
subject  of  these  Dravidian  festivals  Religions  of  the   Hindus,   London, 
has  now  been  carefully  investigated  1862,  ii,  209  J£. 

by  my  former   pupil   Mr.   W.   T.  3  Leviticus,  xxiii,  21 ;    Numbers, 

Elmore.        See      his     monograph  xxviii,  26. 

"  Dravidian  Gods  in  Modern  Hin-  4  The  ethnographic  evidence  re- 

duism,"     University   Studies,    Lin-  lating  to  first-fruits  has  been  very 

coin,  Nebraska,   1915,   xv,    1-152.  fully  collected  by  Sir  J.  G.  Frazer 

2  Several  of  the  Hindu  festivals  (Spirits  of  the  Corn  and  of  the  Wild, 
are  accompanied  by  prayer,  fasting,  London,    1912,    ii,    48-137).     See 
bathing,  and  oblation.     One  of  the  also   J.    A.    MacCulloch,    "First- 
minor  ceremonies  during  the  month  fruits    (Introductory    and    Primi- 
of  February  is  intended  to  "  avert  tive),"  Hastings's  Encyclopedia  of 


HOLY  DAYS  91 

culture  this  rite  tends  to  be  replaced  by  an  act  of 
definite  sacrifice  of  a  portion  of  the  first-fruits  to  the 
spirits  or  the  gods,  who  have  it  in  their  power  to  give 
or  to  withhold  the  crops.  The  rite  of  first-fruits  marks 
a  time  of  peculiar  solemnity,  when  gratitude  to  the 
supernatural  powers  mingles  with  fear  of  the  hostile 
influences  which  may  affect  injuriously  the  grain  that 
lies  still  ungathered.  So  critical  an  epoch  is  frequently 
inaugurated  by  a  ceremonial  cleansing  or  purgation  of 
the  community ;  and  the  rite  itself  may  require  fasting 
and  continence  on  the  part  of  those  who  celebrate  it. 
In  at  least  one  case  previously  noticed,  the  ceremonial 
inbringing  of  first-fruits  formed  an  occasion  for  ab- 
staining from  all  secular  activities.1  Since  a  like  re- 
striction was  attached  to  the  Hebrew  Day  of  First- 
fruits,  we  may  surmise  with  some  probability  that 
abstinence  from  labour  at  this  time  was  observed  by 
the  early  Hebrews  as  a  primitive  taboo  long  before  the 
festival  was  definitely  consecrated  to  Jehovah.  It  is 
difficult  to  avoid  the  same  conclusion  with  respect 
to  the  Sabbatarian  rules  which  invested  other  agricul- 
tural festivals  of  the  Hebrews.2 

The  Greeks  in  late  classical  times  appear  to  have 
regarded  their  religious  festivals  much  as  we  regard  our 
holidays.  "The  gods,"  said  Plato,  "in  pity  for  the  toils 
which  our  race  is  born  to  undergo  have  appointed  holy 
festivals,  by  which  men  alternate  rest  and  labour."  3 
With  this  remark,  indicating  that  for  the  philosophic 
thinker  the  process  of  rationalization  had  begun,  it  is 
interesting  to  compare  the  statement  of  a  modern 
scholar  that  among  the  Greeks  "the  time  occupied  by 
the  feast  of  the  gods  was  as  sacred,  i.e.,  as  much  subject 
to  taboos,  as  was  the  whole  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath."  4 

Religion    and    Ethics,    vi,    41-45;  4  E.  E.  Sikes,  "Folk-lore  in  the 

E.   N.   Fallaize,   "Harvest,"  ibid.,  ' Works    and    Days'   of    Hesiod," 

vi,  520-525.  Classical    Review,    1893,    vii,    390. 

1  On  the Tongan  inachi  see  above,  The  Hesiodic  injunction  (Opera  et 

pp.  18  sq.  dies,  742-743)  • 

Below,  pp.  250  sq.  ^  g>  ^  Trevrd&Ko  O&v  tv  burl  6a- 

3  Plato,  Leges,  n,  653.  Xc 


REST  DAYS 


The  unlucky  days  (d-Tro^/oaSes  ^ftcpat)  observed  by  the 
Athenians  included  the  twenty-fifth  or  twenty-ninth 
of  Thargelion,  a  day  devoted  to  the  celebration  of  the 
Plynteria,  the  washing  festival  of  their  patron  goddess. 
On  this  occasion  Athene's  image  was  borne  in  proces- 
sion to  the  sea,  divested  of  its  adornments,  and  laved 
in  the  purifying  waters.  Plutarch's  biography  of 
Alcibiades  contains  a  significant  reference  to  the  cere- 


avov  OLTTO 


T0i 


stripped  of  its  metaphorical  set- 
ting, means  simply,  "Do  not  cut 
your  nails  with  iron  on  a  joyous 
festival  of  the  gods."  This  taboo 
may  be  compared  with  the  rule 
observed  by  the  Flaminica  Dialis 
at  Rome,  who,  during  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  festival  called  the  Ves- 
talia,  might  not  cut  her  hair  or 
nails  (Ovid,  Fasti,  vi,  225-226). 
The  Roman  antiquarian,  Pliny  the 
Elder,  refers  to  the  belief  that  it  is 
ominous  to  pare  the  nails  on  mar- 
ket days  (nundina),  but  to  cut  the 
hair  on  the  I7th  and  29th  days  of 
the  month  is  a  preventive  of 
baldness  and  headache  (Historia 
naturalis^  xxviii,  5).  These  pagan 
superstitions  have  passed  into  mod- 
ern European  folklore,  being  widely 
current,  for  example,  in  England 
(W.  Henderson,  Notes  on  the  Folk- 
lore of  the  Northern  Counties  of 
England  and  the  Borders,  London, 
1879,  pp.  17  sq.),  as  in  the  familiar 
lines  : 

"Better   a    child    had    ne'er   been 

born 

Then  cut  his  nails  on  a  Sunday 
morn  !" 

Or,  as  another  old  English  rhyme 
runs: 

"Sunday  shaven,  Sunday  shorn, 
Better    hadst    thou    ne'er    been 
born!" 


In  certain  parts  of  Ireland  people 
will  not  shave  on  Sunday  (G.  H. 
Kinahan,  in  Folk-lore  Record,  1881, 
iv,  105).  Besides  Sunday,  Friday 
is  often  considered  an  unlucky  day 
for  cutting  hair  or  nails,  and  some- 
times a  distinction  is  made  between 
the  two  days,  as  in  Northumber- 
land, where  it  is  unlucky  to  cut 
hair  on  a  Friday  or  to  pare  nails 
on  a  Sunday  (Denham  Tracts,  ed. 
J.  Hardy,  ii,  343).  In  Macedo- 
nia Wednesday  and  Friday  are 
the  two  days  when  the  nails  should 
not  be  cut,  while  Sunday  is  unpro- 
pitious  for  bathing  (G.  F.  Abbott, 
Macedonian  Folk-lore,  Cambridge, 
1903,  p.  190).  Similar  taboos  are 
found  outside  of  Europe.  The 
Egyptians  hold  Saturday  to  be 
particularly  unfavourable  for  shav- 
ing and  cutting  the  nails  (E.  W. 
Lane,  Manners  and  Customs  of  the 
Modern  Egyptians,*  London,  1871, 
i>  33  0»  while  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem 
think  that  the  nails  should  be  cut 
early  in  the  week,  so  that  they  may 
not  start  growing  on  the  Sabbath 
(Miss  A.  Goodrich-Freer,  in  Folk- 
lore, 1904,  xv,  187).  These  super- 
stitions may  rest  ultimately  on  the 
notion  that  such  acts  as  hair-cut- 
ting, shaving,  and  nail-paring  are 
ritually  unclean,  and  hence  that 
their  performance  on  a  sacred  day 
would  defile  the  festival.  See  in 
general  on  this  subject,  E.  E.  Sikes, 
"Hair  and  Nails,"  Hastings's  En- 
cyclopedia of  Religion  and  Ethics, 
vi,  474-476. 


HOLY   DAYS  93 

mony.  At  the  time  when  that  brilliant  though  shifty 
Greek  returned  from  exile  to  his  native  city,  the  people 
were  holding  the  Plynteria,  in  Athene's  honour.  On 
that  day  "the  Praxiergidae  solemnize  their  secret  rites  : 
they  remove  all  the  ornaments  from  her  image  and  cover 
it  up.  Hence  the  Athenians  regard  this  day  as  most 
unlucky,  and  do  no  work  on  it.  It  seemed  as  though 
the  goddess  were  receiving  him  in  no  friendly  fashion, 
for  she  hid  her  face  from  his  as  if  to  banish  him  from 
her  sight."  Xenophon,  also,  referring  to  the  return 
of  Alcibiades  at  the  time  of  the  Plynteria,  declares  that 
"none  of  the  Athenians  would  venture  to  transact 
any  serious  business  on  this  day."  And  Pollux  informs 
us  that  the  sanctuaries  were  roped  round  at  the  Plyn- 
teria, as  at  other  unlucky  times,  doubtless  to  avoid 
their  being  tainted  with  the  pollution  of  the  day.1 
The  Athenians  themselves  ascribed  the  unluckiness  of 
the  day  of  the  Plynteria  to  the  fact  of  Athene's  absence 
from  the  city  during  the  festival.  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, that  the  Plynteria  was  at  one  time  a  rite  of  puri- 
fication preliminary  to  the  bringing-in  of  the  first-fruits, 
and  hence  a  rite  which  must  have  existed  long  before 
its  ascription  to  the  protecting  deity  of  Athens.2  So 
considered,  the  Plynteria  as  a  rest  day  affords  a  close 
parallel  to  the  Tongan  inachi  and  the  Hebrew  Day  of 
First-fruits. 

With  the  Plynteria  may  be  profitably  compared  the 
better-known  Roman  festival  of  the  Vestalia.  The 
Athenian  ceremonies  came  in  May,  the  Roman,  in 
June,  but  they  were  alike  in  content.  The  nine  days 
devoted  to  the  Vestalia  were  ill-omened  (religiosi). 
During  their  celebration  the  innermost  sauctnary  of 
Vesta,  shut  all  the  rest  of  the  year,  was  opened  to  the 
matrons  of  Rome,  who  crowded  to  it  barefooted,  while 
the  Vestals  themselves  offered  the  sacred  cakes  made 

1  Plutarch,  Alcibiades,  34;  Xen-  son,   Prolegomena  to   the  Study   of 
ophon,  Hellenicay  i,  4,  12;    Pollux,  Greek   Religion,   Cambridge,    1903, 
Onomasticon,  viii,  141.  pp.  114  sqq. 

2  Compare  Miss  Jane  E.  Harri- 


94  REST  DAYS 

of  the  first  ears  of  corn  plucked  a  month  previously. 
On  the  ninth  day  (June  15)  the  temple  was  swept  and 
the  refuse  thrown  into  the  Tiber.  Then  the  dies 
religiosi  came  to  an  end,  as  soon  as  the  last  act  of  cleans- 
ing had  been  duly  performed  —  Quando  stercus  dela- 
tum  fas,  "When  the  rubbish  has  been  carried  away."  1 
The  Roman  religious  festivals,  of  which  a  few,  as  we 
have  seen,  were  celebrated  on  dies  religiosi?  went  col- 
lectively under  the  name  of  fericz  (dies  feriati)*  The 
public  ferice,  numbering  sixty-one  in  republican  times, 
were  all  consecrated  to  deities  of  the  state  cults.  As 
illustrating  the  Roman  prejudice  against  even  numbers 
as  unlucky,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that,  with  two 
exceptions,  all  these  older  fericz  occurred  on  days  which, 
reckoning  from  the  beginning  of  the  month,  would  be 
denoted  by  odd  numbers.  The  same  superstition 
required  that,  where  a  festival  occupied  more  than  one 
day  in  a  month,  there  should  be  an  interval  of  one  or 
three  days  between  the  beginning  and  close  of  its  cele- 
bration, as  in  the  case  of  the  Lemuria  on  the  ninth, 
eleventh,  and  thirteenth  of  February.  The  ferial 
days  were  of  prehistoric  origin,  though  the  testimony 
of  tradition  assigned  them  to  Romulus  and  particu- 
larly to  Numa,  the  priestly  king  who  was  believed 

1  Varro,  De  lingua  Latina,  vi,  32 ;  dassischen      Altertumswissenschaft, 
Ovid,  Fasti,  vi,  219  sqq.,  707  sqq.;  vi,  coll.  2211-2213;   A.  S.  Wilkins, 
Festus,  De  verborum  signification,  in  Smith,  Wayte,   and  Marindin's 
ed.  C.  O.  Muller,  p.  250;    Fowler,  Dictionary    of    Greek    and    Roman 
Roman  Festivals,  pp.  145  sqq.  Antiquities,*  ii,   836-838;    and  es- 

2  In  addition  to  the  Parentalia,  pecially  C.  Jullian,  in  Daremberg 
Lemuria,  and  Vestalia,  the  occasions  and  SaghVs  Dictionnaire  des  anti- 
on  which  the  Salii  performed  their  quites    grecques    et    romaines,     iv, 
dances    in    March     and    October  1042-1066.     The  plural  form  fericz 
(Ovid,  Fasti,   iii,  393   sqq.;    Livy,  indicates    that    the    festival    day 
xxxvii,    33;     Suetonius,    Otho,    8)  recurs   periodically;*   compare   the 
and  the  two  days  succeeding  the  similar  usage  as  respects  nundincz 
fericz  Latincz  (Cicero,  Ad  Qu.  frat.,  (below,   p.    120).     Fericz  seems   to 
ii,  4,  2)  were  included  among  the  have     been     first     written    fesicz, 
dies  religiosi.  whence  the  word   festus.     On   the 

3  See  G.  Wissowa,  Religion  und  derivation  of  fericz  see  A.  Walde, 
Kultus  der  Rdmer,  Munich,   1902,  Lateinisches  etymologisches  Worter- 
PP-     365-381;     idem,     in     Pauly-  buck?    Heidelberg,    1910,    pp.    270 
Wissowa's    Real-Encyclopddie    der  sq. 


HOLY  DAYS  95 

to  have  organized  the  Roman  religion.  Considering  the 
great  antiquity  of  the  ferice,  it  becomes  a  legitimate 
inquiry  how  far  they  resemble  the  festivals  observed 
in  modern  times  by  peoples  scarcely  inferior  in  culture 
to  the  Romans  at  the  dawn  of  their  history.  What 
likeness,  in  other  words,  can  be  traced  between  the 
jerice  and  days  tabu  ? 

The  ancients  made  a  fundamental  distinction  between 
public  and  private  ferice.  The  former  included  all 
festivals  which  were  celebrated  by  the  community  at 
large,  the  latter,  those  which  appertained  to  individuals, 
families,  gentes,  sacred  colleges,  and  other  social  groups 
within  the  body  politic.  Since  the  Roman  state 
religion  was  based  on  the  religion  of  the  family  and  the 
gens,  we  are  entitled  to  believe  that  the/m^  private? 
provided  the  model  for  the/m'^  public  ce  ;  and  this  view 
is  confirmed  by  numerous  analogies  elsewhere.1  The 
festivals  observed  by  gentes  are  little  known  and  appear 
to  have  become  obsolete  at  an  early  date ;  the  family 
festivals,  on  the  other  hand,  flourished  throughout  an- 
tiquity. All  important  epochs  in  the  life  of  a  Roman 
housefather  and  his  children  —  birth,  naming,  assump- 
tion of  the  toga  virilis,  marriage,  and  death  —  were  kept 
as  ferial  days.  The/m^  denicales  are  especially  note- 
worthy, for  they  show  that  the  Romans  shared  the 
superstitious  notions  of  many  primitive  peoples  con- 
cerning the  noxious  influence  of  death.  These  cere- 
monies, which  took  place  a  few  days  after  the  funeral, 
were  for  the  purpose  of  purifying  the  house  and  its 
inmates  from  the  death  contagion.2  Abstinence  from 
labour  formed  a  special  feature  of  all  family  festivals  : 
they  were  rest  days  for  both  man  and  beast.  As  that 
model  economist,  Cato  the  Elder,  remarked,  "For 
mules,  horses,  and  asses  there  are  no  other  holidays 

1  Above,  pp.  25,  38  sq.y  43  sq.,  53.  55.     It  was  not  lawful  to  bury  a 

2  Festus,    De    verborum    signifi-  corpse  on  a  public  holiday,  doubt- 
catione:    denicales  ferice  colebantur,  less  through  fear  of  polluting  the 
cum  hominis  mortui  causa  familia  sacredness    of   the    occasion.     See 
purgabatur    (ed.    Miiller,    p.    70) ;  Columella,  De  re  rustica,  ii,  22,  5. 
compare  Cicero,  De  legibus,  ii,  22, 


96  REST  DAYS 

than  those  of  the  family." l  However,  we  must 
probably  include,  as  an  exception  to  Cato's  statement, 
the  festival  of  the  Paganalia,  or  ferice  sementivce,  which 
came  in  January  after  the  seed  had  been  sown.  During 
this  time  the  plough  rested  by  command  of  the  gods, 
and  not  the  farmer  only,  but  also  his  slaves  and  animal 
servants,  enjoyed  holiday  idleness.  The  festival  had 
a  distinctly  prophylactic  character,  being  marked  by 
prayers,  offerings,  and  other  rites  designed  to  ward  off 
evil  influences  from  the  crops.2  The  Paganalia,  as  its 
name  indicates,  was  an  old  village  rite  which  survived 
into  historic  times  and  became  incorporated  in  the 
public  ferice  of  the  Roman  city.  But  before  turning  to 
this  division  of  our  subject  it  may  be  pointed  out  that 
among  the  private  ferice  were  also  included  those  which 
were  observed  by  individuals  only,  as  a  means  of  remov- 
ing the  taint  of  some  impurity  which  rested  upon  them. 
A  man  who  had  pronounced  accidentally  the  names  of 
certain  mysterious  divinities  was  expected  to  celebrate 
a  private  festival  as  a  means  of  expiation  (ferias  ob- 
servabai).  The  Flaminica,  or  wife  of  the  Flamen  Dialis, 
who  with  her  husband  was  subject  to  many  restric- 
tions, became  tabooed  — feriata  —  if  she  heard  thunder, 
and  might  not  engage  in  her  religious  duties  until  she 
had  performed  an  act  of  lustration  (donee  placasset 
deos)? 

The  public  ferice  were  also  occasions  for  abstinence, 
purification,  and  propitiation.     On  the  calendars  they 

1  Cato,    De    agri    cultura,    138.  see      Fowler,      Roman      Festivals, 
Compare    the    Mosaic    injunction  pp.  294  sqq.;    idem,  The  Religious 
relating   to   the   Sabbath    (Deuter-  Experience   of  the   Roman   People, 
onomy,v,  14).  London,  1911,  pp.  61  sq. 

2  Ovid,  Fasti,  i,  664  sq. :  3  Macrobius,   op.   cit.,   i,   16,   8. 
Pagus  agat  festum:  pagum  lustrate,  On  the  taboos  affecting  the  Flamen 

coloni  •  a        Flaminica   see   F.  B.  Jevons, 

Et  date  paganis  ennua  liba  focis.  Perch's  Romane  Questions,  Lon- 
don, 1892,  pp.  Ixxni  sqq.;   Sir  J.  G. 

Some   ancient   authorities    (Varro,  Frazer,  Taboo  and  the  Perils  of  the 

De  lingua  Latina,  vi,  26;    Macro-  Soul,  pp.  13  sq.     The  Flamen  was 

bius,  Saturnalia,  i,  16,  6)  appear  to  in  a  condition  of  permanent  taboo 

distinguish  the  Paganalia  from  the  —  Dialis  cotidie  feriatus  est   (Gel- 

f erics  sementivee.     On   this   festival  lius,  Noctes  Atticce,  x,  15,  16). 


o  r<=»     m  u  T 


HOLY  DAYS  97 


are  marked  nefasti,  indicating  that  at  such  times  all 
political  and  judicial  business  must  be  suspended. 
In  the  later  period  of  the  Roman  Republic  unscrupulous 
consuls  sometimes  put  this  regulation  to  a  base  use 
by  ordering  special  ferice  for  all  comitial  days,  so  as  to 
stave  off  legislation  by  their  rivals.1  The  gods,  on 
ferial  days,  demanded  the  service  of  men  by  visits  to 
the  temples  and  by  prayers  and  sacrifices.  Hence 
the  ferice  formed  public  holidays,  when  even  slaves 
enjoyed  a  cessation  of  toil.  "Let  contentions  of  every 
kind  cease  on  the  sacred  festivals,  and  let  servants 
enjoy  them  with  a  remission  of  labour ;  for  this  purpose 
they  were  appointed  at  certain  seasons." 2  These 
words  of  Cicero  reflect,  however,  not  the  original  pur- 
pose of  the  ferice  but  only  the  interpretation  put  upon 
them  by  a  rationalistic  thinker  in  a  sophisticated  age. 
We  may  assume  with  confidence  that  the  ferial  days 
were  not  established  as  a  boon  to  the  labourer.  The 
regulations  enforced  on  the/m<^  indicate  how,  in  Roman 
belief,  it  was  essential  that  their  holiness  should  not  be 
polluted  by  unseemly  activity.  The  rex  sacrorum  and 
flamine S,  whose  lives  were  passed  in  an  odour  of  sanctity, 
were  not  allowed  even  to  see  any  work  being  done  dur- 
ing the  celebration  of  ferice ;  hence,  when  these  officials 
went  out,  heralds  preceded  them  to  enjoin  the  people 
from  working  in  their  presence.  An  accidental  neglect 
of  such  admonitions  was  punished  with  a  fine  and 
atonement  was  made  by  the  sacrifice  of  a  pig.  An 
intentional  disobedience  constituted  a  crime  beyond 
the  power  of  atonement.3 

In  the  later  centuries  of  the  republic,  with  the  decay 
of  supernaturalism,  questions  began  to  be  raised  as 
to  what  kinds  of  work  might  legitimately  be  done  on 
the  public  ferice.  The  pontiff  Umbro  declared  that  it 

1  Appian,   Bellum   civile,   i,   55;  3  Macrobius,  op.  cit.,  i,   16,  9: 
Plutarch,   Sulla,   8 ;     Dio  Cassius,  Pollui  ferias,  si  .  .  .  opus  aliquod 
xxxviii,  6.  fieret;   Festus,  s.v.  praciamitatores : 

2  Cicero,   De  legibus,   ii,   8,    19;  ut  homines  se  ab  opere  abstinerent, 
compare    ii,     12,    29;      idem,    De  quia   his   opus  facicntem  videre  ir- 
divinatione,  i,  45,  102.  religiosum  erat  (ed.  Miiller,  p.  248). 


98  REST  DAYS 

was  no  violation  of  them  for  a  person  to  do  any  work 
which  had  reference  to  the  gods,  or  the  offering  of 
sacrifices  —  ad  deos  pertinens  sacrorumve  causa.1  All 
labour  was  likewise  allowable  which  was  necessary  to 
supply  the  urgent  wants  of  life.  The  pontiff  Scsevola 
held  that  any  work  might  be  done,  if  suffering  and 
injury  were  caused  by  its  neglect  or  delay  —  licet  quod 
prcztermissum  noceret.  If  a  house  threatened  to  tumble 
down  on  a  ferial  day,  the  inhabitants  might  take  the 
requisite  measures  to  repair  it  at  this  time.  And 
should  a  man's  oxe  fall  into  a  pit,  he  might  employ  work- 
men to  lift  it  out  without  polluting  the  jerice?  Cato 
thought  that  on  holidays  a  farmer  might  repair  ditches, 
pave  the  public  roads,  and  make  everything  neat  and 
clean  about  his  premises.3  Vergil,  writing  when  this 
rationalistic  movement  had  culminated,  asserts  that 
"even  on  holy  days  some  work  is  permitted  by  the  laws 
of  God  and  man.  The  strictest  worshipper  has  never 
scrupled  to  drain  the  fields,  plant  a  hedge  to  protect  a 
crop,  set  snares  for  birds,  fire  the  brambles,  or  wash  his 
bleating  sheep  for  health's  sake  in  the  stream."  4  Such 
interpretations  indicate  that  in  late  classical  antiquity 
the  burdens  of  the  old  tabooed  days  were  being  grad- 
ually lifted,  and  their  observance  adjusted  to  the  social 
and  economic  needs  of  a  progressive  community. 

Corresponding  to  the  private  ferice  observed  by  indi- 
viduals on  special  occasions  were  those  public  holidays 
which  had  to  be  kept  by  the  community  at  large,  in 
consequence  of  some  unusual  and  terrifying  event. 
Certain  natural  phenomena  resulted  in  the  cessation  of 
all  activity  by  the  people  and  the  institution  of  ex- 
traordinary festivals  (j *eri<z  imperatives).  These  were 

1  Macrobius,  op.  cit.,  i,  16,  10.  ii,   22)   is  devoted  to   a  discussion 

3  Ibid.,     i,     16,     ii ;      compare      of  what  may  and  what  may  not  be 
Matthew,  xii,  n;    Luke,  xiy,  5.  done  by  a  farmer   on  ferial  days. 

8  Cato,  De  agri  cultura,  ii,  4.  The  pontifical  law  in  such  matters 

4  Vergil,    Georgica,    i,    268-272,  was  as  minute,  tyrannical,  and  ab- 
with  the  commentary  of  Servius.  surd   as    the  rabbinical  ordinances 
An  entire   chapter  of  Columella's  relating   to  the  proper  observance 
treatise  on  husbandry  (De  re  rustica,  of  the  Sabbath.     See  below,  p.  263 . 


J  J 


HOLY  DAYS  99 


decreed  by  the  magistrates,  acting  on  the  advice  of  the 
priests  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate.  Festivals 
of  this  sort  were  anonymous ;  they  were  dedicated 
neither  to  god  nor  goddess  —  sive  deo  sive  dece  —  for 
the  divine  author  of  the  portent  was  obviously  unknown. 
Numerous  instances  of  the  celebration  of  extraordinary 
jerice  are  noticed  by  classical  historians,  especially  by 
Livy.  During  the  reign  of  Tullus  Hostilius,  the  third 
of  Rome's  legendary  kings,  a  rain  of  stones  on  the  Alban 
Mount  led  to  the  institution  of  a  nine  days'  festival. 
Shortly  after  the  establishment  of  the  republic  an  aurora 
borealis  so  terrified  the  people  that  they  kept  a  three 
days'  festival.  About  half  a  century  after  the  sack 
of  Rome  by  the  Gauls  a  rain  of  stones,  accompanied  by 
an  obscuration  of  the  sun,  made  it  necessary  for  the 
Senate  to  appoint  a  dictator  whose  special  business  it 
was  to  appease  the  supernatural  powers  by  appointing 
holidays  and  performing  ceremonies.  When  Hannibal 
was  in  Italy,  threatening  the  life  of  the  Roman  com- 
monwealth, Heaven  seemed  to  multiply  portents,  and 
Livy  particularly  mentions  two  occasions  when  a 
shower  of  stones  provoked  compulsory  holidays  for  the 
usual  period  (novemdiales  jerice) .  Earthquakes  always 
aroused  superstitious  fears  and  made  it  necessary  to 
celebrate  propitiatory  jerice.  In  the  year  193  B.C.  the 
frequent  earthquakes  led  to  the  institution  of  so  many 
festivals  that  all  public  business  was  blocked ;  the 
Senate  could  not  meet  and  the  consuls  were  constantly 
employed  in  rites  of  propitiation.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, so  Livy  tells  us,  the  people  grew  weary, 
not  only  of  the  earthquakes  but  also  of  the  jerice  ap- 
pointed to  expiate  them,  and  an  edict  was  passed  that, 
whenever  jerice  were  ordered  to  be  observed  on  a  certain 
day,  in  consequence  of  an  earthquake,  no  fresh  dis- 
turbance of  the  sort  was  to  be  reported  on  that  same 
day.  Only  a  year  after  the  publication  of  this  amusing 
edict  the  Romans  were  terrified  by  earthquake  shocks 
which  lasted  for  thirty-eight  days,  a  period  which  was 
marked  by  a  total  cessation  of  business.  And  more 


ioo  REST  DAYS 

than  two  hundred  years  later  the  emperor  Claudius, 
when  an  earthquake  happened  at  Rome,  never  failed 
to  appoint  holidays  for  sacred  rites.  Similar  cere- 
monies, pro  valetudine  populi,  were  sometimes  per- 
formed to  drive  away  a  devastating  pestilence.1 

To  the  ancient  Romans  the  celebration  of  ferial  days 
thus  provided  an  appropriate  and  effectual  method  of 
meeting  a  crisis.  Like  the  tabooed  days  observed  in 
Polynesia,  Indonesia,  and  southeastern  Asia  at  the 
present  time,  the  ferice  were  occasions  for  the  propitia- 
tion of  supernatural  and  hostile  powers.  As  such  they 
must  have  been,  originally,  periods  of  gloom  and  not  of 
joy.  That  subsequently,  when  superstition  had  in 
some  measure  relaxed  its  grip,  they  became  festive  occa- 
sions, celebrated  so  luxuriously  that  both  Sulla  and 
Augustus  felt  themselves  obliged  to  promulgate  laws 
restricting  expenditures  in  connection  with  them,2  may 
be  taken  as  only  another  instance  of  man's  ineradicable 
tendency  to  convert  his  fast  days  into  feast  days. 

1  Livy,  i,  31,  iii,  5,  vii,  28,  xxi,  quens    in     his    curious    work,    De 

62,  xxv,  7,  xxxiv,  55,  xxxv,  40,  ^>ro^«V,22,33,54,58,68, 104,  in. 
xli,  21,  xlii,  2;  Suetonius,  Divus  2Gellius,  Nodes  Attica ,  ii,  24, 

Claudius,     22.     Many     more     in-  u;    compare  Horace,  Carmina,  ii, 

stances  are  given  by  Julius  Obse-  3,  6-9. 


CHAPTER  IV 


MARKET    DAYS 

REST  days,  more  or  less  regular  in  occurrence  and 
following  at  short  intervals  after  periods  of  continu- 
ous labour,  are  frequently  observed  by  primitive  agri- 
culturists. Sabbaths  of  this  sort  seem  to  be  unknown 
among  migratory  hunting  and  fishing  peoples  or  among 
nomadic  pastoral  tribes.1  A  wandering  hunter  requires 
no  regular  day  of  rest,  since  his  life  passes  in  alterna- 
tions of  continuous  labour,  while  following  the  chase, 


1  The  Indians  of  Cape  Flattery, 
state  of  Washington,  are  said  to 
keep  the  month  of  August  as  a 
period  of  repose  when  no  berries 
are  picked  and  no  fish  are  taken 
from  the  sea,  except  occasionally 
by  children  (J.  G.  Swan,  in  Smith- 
sonian Contributions  to  Knowledge, 
xvi,  no.  220,  p.  91).  Perhaps  the 
practice  was  consciously  designed 
to  establish  a  "close  season," 
though  this  is  probably  attributing 
too  much  foresight  to  the  Indian. 
The  fish  or  berries  may  have  been 
considered  unfit  for  eating  in 
August.  After  gathering  the  yam 
harvest  the  Bini  of  Benin  keep  the 
first  month  of  the  dry  season  as  a 
time  of  idleness  (R.  E.  Dennett, 
At  the  Back  of  the  Black  Mans 
Mind,  London,  1906,  p.  216). 
Here  a  period  of  rest  is  observed 
by  an  agricultural  people  because 
they  have  no  special  labour  to 
perform.  Among  the  Akikuyu  of 
British  East  Africa  there  are  three 
months  in  the  year  when  little  or 
no  work  is  done,  since  the  crops  are 
then  ripening  (K.  R.  Dundas,  in 


Man,  1909,  ix,  38).  The  Yuchi 
Indians,  now  in  the  state  of  Okla- 
homa, keep  autumn  as  "a  period  of 
combined  rest,  hunting,  and  en- 
joyment." The  winter,  also,  is 
passed  in  idleness  and  recreation 
(F.  G.  Speck,  Ethnology  of  the  Yuchi 
Indians,  Philadelphia,  1909,  p.  67). 
Dr.  C.  G.  Seligmann  has  sent  to  me, 
in  manuscript,  some  curious  infor- 
mation regarding  a  division  of  time 
observed  by  the  Sinaugolo,  a  hill- 
tribe  to  the  east  of  Port  Moresby, 
British  New  Guinea.  It  seems  that 
long  ago,  according  to  Sinaugolo 
tradition,  the  people  had  to  labour 
incessantly  and  enjoyed  no  oppor- 
tunity to  celebrate  their  dances 
and  other  festive  ceremonies.  So 
they  instituted  what  was  called  the 
kaba  period  as  a  relaxation  from  the 
hard  work  of  ordinary  life.  During 
this  period,  which  recurred  every 
other  year  or  oftener,  the  Sinaugolo 
danced  and  held  their  most  impor- 
tant feasts.  The  division  of  time 
into  kaba  and  dauka  (specially  de- 
voted to  labour)  has  now  lapsed. 


101 


102  REST  DAYS 

and  of  almost  'uninterrupted  idleness,  after  a  successful 
hunt.  For  the  shepherd  there  can  be  no  relaxation 
of  the  diurnal  duties,  for  every  morning  the  cattle 
must  be  driven  abroad  to  pasture,  they  must  be  watched 
and  watered,  and  at  night  they  must  be  milked.  And, 
as  Rudolf  von  Ihering  has  suggested,  the  shepherd, 
compared  with  the  farmer,  scarcely  needs  a  regular 
rest  day;  his  occupation  causes  him  so  little  continu- 
ous exertion  that  he  can  pursue  it  all  the  year  round 
without  any  injury  to  his  health.  A  farmer,  however, 
is  benefited  by  a  period  of  rest  recurring  more  or  less 
regularly,  and,  though  agricultural  pursuits  are  de- 
pendent on  the  seasons  and  weather,  he  is  usually 
able  to  postpone  his  work  for  a  brief  period  without 
serious  loss.  It  might  be  argued,  therefore,  that  the 
change  from  pastoral  to  agricultural  life  would  itself 

]  be  sufficient  to  call  into  existence  the  institution  of  a 
periodic  rest  day.1  The  evidence  to  be  submitted 
suggests,  however,  that  the  connection  of  the  rest  day 

-  with  the  farmer's  pursuits  is  secondary,  rather  than 
direct,  and  is  due  to  the  obvious  fact  that  the  Sabbath 
institution  implies  a  settled  life,  a  more  or  less  developed 
form  of  social  organization  and  government,  and  some- 
thing approaching  a  calendar  system. 

The  greater  number  of  periodic  rest  days  observed 
by  agricultural  peoples  in  the  lower  stages  of  culture 
are  associated  with  the  institution  of  the  market.2 
Days  on  which  markets  regularly  take  place  are  not 

1  The   Evolution    of  the    Aryan,  Socialwissenschaft,    1906,    ix,   619- 
translated  by  A.  Drucker,  London,  627,  700^715,  764-782;  H.  Schurtz, 
1897,  p.  117.  Das  afrikanische  Gewerbe,  Leipzig, 

2  On  primitive  markets  see  Karl  1900,  pp.  115-122;   P.  J.  Hamilton 
Andree,  Geographie  des  Welthandels,  Grierson,   The  Silent   Trade,  Edin- 
Stuttgart,     1867,     i,     40-81;      C.  burgh,    1903,    pp.    54-62;     H.    L. 
Kb'hne,      "Markt-,      Kaufmanns-  Roth,   "Trading  in  Early  Days," 
und    Handelsrecht    in    primitiven  Bankfield  Museum  Notes,   Halifax 
Kulturverhaltnissen,"       Zeitschrift  (Eng.),   1908,   no.  5,  pp.    23  sqq.; 
fur  vergleichende  Recht swissenschaft,  N.  W.  Thomas,  "The  Market  in 

1895,  xi,  196-220;  R.  Lasch,  "Das  African  Law  and  Custom,"  Journal 
Marktwesen  auf  den  primitiven  of  the  Society  of  Comparative  Legisla- 
Kulturstufen,"  Zeitschrift  fur  tion,"  1908,  n.s.,  no.  19,  pp.  90-106. 


MARKET  DAYS  103 

infrequently  characterized  by  Sabbatarian  regulations. 
It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  present  in  some  detail  the 
evidence  for  market  weeks  and  market  days  in  various 
parts  of  the  world.1 

Some  Australian  tribes  have  established  trade  cen- 
tres, where  there  are  periodical  meetings  for  the  purpose 
of  exchanging  the  products  and  manufactures  of  neigh- 
bouring communities.  More  or  less  bartering  occurs 
also  in  connection  with  great  tribal  convocations,  espe- 
cially those  for  the  initiation  ceremonies.2  Necessarily, 
such  gatherings  take  place  at  infrequent  intervals. 
The  beginnings  of  regular  markets  may,  however,  be 
traced  in  certain  parts  of  New  Guinea  and  among  some 
of  the  Melanesian  Islands.  The  natives  of  the  Mekeo 
District  of  British  New  Guinea  are  said  to  hold  markets, 
every  fifth  day  at  Mawaia  and  Mohu  (on  the  banks 
of  the  Angabunga  River),  and  at  other  intervals  else- 
where. Women  from  several  villages  will  assemble 
at  some  appointed  place,  usually  on  the  boundary 
between  two  tribes,  and  there  will  exchange  their  prod- 
ucts for  commodities  from  other  localities.  The  bar- 
tering lies  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  women,  who, 
however,  are  accompanied  by  a  few  armed  men  acting 
as  a  guard.3  The  Kerepunu  of  Hood  Peninsula,  to 
the  east  of  Port  Moresby,  are  described  by  a  missionary 
who  knew  them  well  as  most  industrious  farmers : 
every  morning  men,  women,  and  children  go  to  work 
in  the  fields  and  return  only  at  nightfall.  "They  have 
a  rule,  to  which  they  strictly  adhere  all  the  year  round, 
of  working  for  two  days  and  resting  the  third."  4  The 

1  Some  observers  use  ambiguous       Tribes  of  South-east  Australia,  Lon- 
language,    when    referring    to    the      don,  1904,  pp.  714  sqq.     On  Aus- 
length  —  four,  five,  six  days,  etc.       tralian  barter  see  G.  C.  Wheeler, 

—  of  market  weeks.     Throughout  The  Tribe  and  Intertribal  Relations 

this  chapter  I  have  regularly  trans-  in  Australia,  London,  1910,  pp.  93- 

lated  by  "every  fifth   day"   such  97. 

expressions  as  "tous  les  cinq  jours,"  3  A.   C.   Haddon,   Head-hunters, 

"de  cinq  en  cinq  jours,"  "alle  fiinf  Black,  White,  and  Brown,  London, 

Tage,"  "einmal   in   fiinf  Tagen,"  1901,  pp.  265,  269. 

and  "einmaal  in  de  vijf  dagen."  4  James  Chalmers,   in  Chalmers 

2  A.    W.    Howitt,     The    Native  and  Gill,   Work  and  Adventure  in 


104  REST  DAYS 

Kerepunu  rest  day  may  have  originated  in  a  practice, 
now  lapsed,  of  holding  a  market  every  third  day,  since 
there  is  evidence  for  the  former  existence  of  markets 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Port  Moresby.1  The  natives 
of  Patipi  and  Roembatti,  on  the  MacCluer  Gulf  in  the 
extreme  western  part  of  Dutch  New  Guinea,  have 
markets,  which  as  a  rule  recur  every  fifth  day.2  In 
the  Gazelle  Peninsula,  Bismarck  Archipelago,  markets 
at  which  the  women  buy  and  sell  take  place  every  third 
day.3  In  New  Caledonia,  where  each  tribe  is  divided 
into  sea-folk  and  bush-folk,  the  former  being  cocoa-tree 
planters  and  fishers,  the  latter  being  yam-growers, 
there  is  said  to  be  a  lively  market  conducted  each  week 
by  the  women.  "The  ladies  [sic]  of  each  section  of 
the  tribe  sit  down  in  rows  with  their  produce  before 
them,  and  barter  is  transacted  in  dances,  with  a  good 
deal  of  manoeuvring."  4  In  some  parts  of  old  Poly- 
nesia markets  were  held  at  stated  periods,  but,  unfor- 
tunately, no  record  seems  to  have  been  made  of  the 
time  intervals  in  popular  use.5 

Markets  take  place  in  Celebes,6  Sumatra,  and  Java, 
usually  every  fifth  day,  but  sometimes  at  shorter  inter- 

New    Guinea,    London,    1885,    pp.  landsckaardrijkskundiggenootschap, 

40  sq.     Compare  M.  Krieger,  Neu-  1904,  second  series,  xxi,  644. 

Guinea,  Berlin,  1899,  p.  335.     Sir  3J.    Graf    Pfeil,    Studien    und 

William  MacGregor  observes  that  Beobachtungen     aus     der     Siidsee, 

the  institution  of  the  Sabbath,  as  a  Brunswick,    1899,    p.    116. 

day  of  rest,  "is  not  quite  new  to  4  J.    J.    Atkinson,    in    Folk-lore, 

the  Papuan,  but  .  .  .  the  Papuan  1903,  xiv,  245.     Mr.  Atkinson  in 

Sabbath    of    Keapara    [Kerepunu]  this  passage  probably  has  in  mind 

exceeds    the    Hebrew    in    dividing  the  European  week  introduced  into 

time  into  weeks  of  three  days.     The  New  Caledonia  by  the  French, 

great  majority  of  the  tribes,  how-  6  Basil   Thomson,    The  Fijians, 

ever,  do  not  seem  to  have  a  regu-  London,    1908,    p.    288;     Wilkes, 

lar   week,    and   work    or   rest    ca-  Narrative    of   the    U.S.    Exploring 

priciously"    (British    New  Guinea,  Expedition,    iii,    300    sq.     (Somu- 

London,    1897,   pp.    44  sq.).      See  Somu,   in  the  Fiji  group);    J.  J. 

above,  p.  26  n.1  Jarves,  History  of  the  Hawaiian  or 

1 C.  G.    Seligmann,    The   Mela-  Sandwich    Islands?    Boston,    1843, 

nesians  of  British  New  Guinea,  Cam-  p.  77. 

bridge,   1910,   pp.   48,  94  (Koita).  6  P.    Sarasin    and    F.    Sarasin, 

2  J.  S.  A.   van   Dissel,   in    Tijd-  Reisen  in  Celebes,  Wiesbaden,  1905, 

schrift    van    het    koninklijk    neder-  ii,  324. 


MARKET  DAYS  105 

vals.  Among  the  Batta  of  Sumatra  a  market  occurs 
every  third,  fourth,  or  fifth  day,  according  to  a  regular 
succession  and  in  a  designated  place,  until  the  round 
of  participating  villages  has  been  made.  At  Batta 
markets  all  hostilities  are  suspended,  and  it  is  sometimes 
required  that  every  man  who  carries  a  musket  in  the 
market  place  shall  put  a  green  bough  in  the  muzzle, 
as  a  token  of  his  peaceful  intentions.1  The  Javanese 
pasar,  or  market  week,  consisted  of  five  days  —  lege 
(or  manis),  pahing  (or  pa),  pon,  wage,  and  kaliwon. 
The  principal  use  of  the  Javanese  week  was  to  deter- 
mine the  markets  or  fairs  held  in  the  important  towns.2 

The  pasar  spread  from  Java  to  the  island  of  Bali, 
where  it  is  employed  in  combination  with  the  week  of 
seven  days.3  In  the  Malay  Peninsula,  side  by  side 
with  the  ordinary  seven-day  week,  there  is  a  popular 
cycle  of  five  days  used  for  the  determination  of  lucky 
and  unlucky  days.  The  names  of  the  days  are  those  of 
Hindu  divinities,  but  the  cycle  itself  is  probably  of 
Javanese  origin.4 

Markets  recurring  every  fifth  day  are  found  among 
the  Indo-Chinese,  as  in  Tonkin  5  and  the  various  Lao 
states  of  northern  Siam.6  Among  the  Shan  all  work 

1  W.   Marsden,    The  History  of  day  a  mixed  colour,  and  focus,  or 
Sumatra,*  London,  i8n,pp.  379  sq.;  centre.     See  John  Crawfurd,  His- 
F.  Junghuhn,  Die  Battaldnder  auf  tory    of    the    Indian    Archipelago, 
Sumatra,  Berlin,  1847,  pp.  227  sq.;  Edinburgh,  1820,  i,  289  sq.     These 
J.  v.  Brenner,  Besuch  bei  den  Kan-  fancies  must  be  explained  by  the 
nibalen  Sumatras,  Wiirzburg,  1894,  colour    symbolism    which    so    fre- 
p.  291 ;    B.  Hagen,  in  Petermanns  quently   attaches   to   the   cardinal 
Mitteilungen,  1883,  xxix,  173  (Batta  points. 

of   Lake  Toba) ;    W.  Volz,  Nord-  3  R.  Friederich,  in  Journal  of  the 

Sumatra,  Berlin,  1909,  i,  267.  Royal  Asiatic   Society,    1878,   n.s., 

2  Sir  T.    S.    Raffles,   History   of  x,   88  sqq.;    compare    ibid.,    1876, 
Java,2  London,  1830,  i,  531;    P.  J.  n.s.,  viii,  198. 

Veth,    Java,2    Haarlem,    1907,    iv,  4W.   W.   Skeat,   Malay  Magic, 

296  sqq.     The  names  of  the  days  in  London,  1900,  pp.  545  sq. 

the  pasar  were  considered  to  bear  a  6  J.  Richard,  Histoire  naturelle, 

mystical  relation  to  colours  and  the  civile,  et  politique  du  Tonquin,  Paris, 

divisions  of  the  horizon,  the  first  1778,  i,  151. 

day  (white,  east),  the  second  (red,  6  Lillian  J.  Curtis,   The  Laos  of 

south),  the  third  (yellow,  west),  the  North    Siam,    Philadelphia,    1903, 

fourth  (black,  north),  and  the  fifth  p.  132. 


106  REST  DAYS 

ceases  on  market  days,  except  what  is  necessarily 
involved  in  buying  and  selling.  Every  native  tries 
to  be  in  his  own  village  when  the  market  takes  place 
there,  not  only  to  trade  but  also  to  exchange  news  and 
gossip.  The  centre  of  the  village  becomes  a  forum, 
where  every  subject  is  fully  discussed.1  "The  Shan 
is  a  born  trader,  and  the  great  feature  of  life  in  this 
country  is  the  bazaar,  which  is  held  on  every  fifth  day 
at  all  the  chief  villages  of  the  states."  2  Another 
traveller  tells  us  that  on  the  first  three  of  the  five  days 
constituting  the  Shan  market  week  small  bazaars  are 
held  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  but  no  trading 
takes  place  anywhere  on  the  fourth  day.3  The  Khasi 
of  Assam  have  a  great  market  every  eighth  day,  from 
which  circumstance  they  have  developed  a  week  of 
eight  days.  "The  reason  of  the  eight-day  week  is 
because  the  markets  are  usually  held  every  eighth  day. 
The  names  of  the  days  of  the  week  are  not  those  of 
planets,  but  of  places  where  the  principal  markets 
are  held,  or  used  to  be  held,  in  the  Khasi  and  Jaintia 
hills."  4  It  may  be  regarded  as  certain  that  this  eight- 
day  period  arose  from  a  doubling  of  an  earlier  four-day 
cycle,  as  has  been  the  case  among  certain  African 
peoples.  Even  now  in  the  War  country,  lying  to  the 
south  of  the  Khasi  and  Jaintia  District,  markets  are 
usually  held  every  fourth  day.5 

Throughout  the  central  parts  of  Africa,  from  the 
British  and  German  possessions  in  the  east  to  those  of 
the  Portuguese  and  French  in  the  west,  there  are  nu- 
merous market  places  where  neighbouring  communities 

1  Mrs.  Leslie  Milne,  The  Shans  of    the    Anthropological    Institute, 
at  Home,  London,  1910,  p.  132.  1897,  xxvi,  19. 

2  C.  E.  D.  Black,  in  Geographical  4  P.  R.  T.  Gurdon,  The  Khasis, 
Journal,    1895,    vi,    30    (Shan    of  London,  1907,  p.   189.     According 
Upper      Burma).     Compare      also  to  C.  Becker  (Anthropos,  1909,  iv, 
Gazetteer  of  Upper  Burma  and  the  894)  the  market  is  called  jeu  duh. 
Shan  States,  edited  by  Scott  and  6  Gurdon,  op.  cit.,  p.  190.     Com- 
Hardiman,   Rangoon,    1900,   pt.   i,  pare  Sir  J.  D.  Hooker  (Himalayan 
vol.    i,    p.     536    (Shan    of   Lower  Journals,   London,    1891,   p.   487), 
Burma).  who  attributes  the  fourth-day  mar- 

3  R.  G.  Woodthorpe,  in  Journal  kets  to  the  Khasi  generally. 


MARKET  DAYS  107 

meet  regularly  to  exchange  their  productions.  Usually 
every  fourth  day  is  a  market  day,  observed  with  the 
cessation  of  ordinary  occupations,  and  by  the  Wanika 
of  British  East  Africa,  according  to  missionary  testi- 
mony, with  feasting  and  carousing.1  In  the  same  part 
of  British  East  Africa  the  Wagiriama  possess  a  week  of 
four  days,  each  with  its  name.2  Among  the  Akikuyu, 
who  employ  thirty-day  months  beginning  with  new 
moon,  there  is  a  week  of  four  days,  the  latter  being 
indicated  by  the  names  of  the  different  markets  held 
on  them.  Each  market  is  held  on  the  fourth  day  of 
the  cycle,  and  no  two  markets  in  the  same  neighbour- 
hood occur  on  the  same  day.3  The  Akikuyu  market 
places  in  populous  districts  are  often  not  more  than 
seven  miles  apart.  The  site  chosen  for  a  market  is 
usually  a  hill-top,  sufficiently  open  and  accessible  to 
accommodate  the  natives  who  may  assemble  there  to 
the  number  of  four  or  five  thousand.  All  in  all  the 
market  forms  a  very  important  feature  of  Akikuyu 
society.4  The  Wachaga  of  German  East  Africa,  who 
dwell  on  the  southern  slopes  of  mighty  Kilimanjaro, 
the  highest  mountain  in  Africa,  hold  a  daily  market, 
so  ordered  as  to  recur  every  third  day  in  one  of  three 
neighbouring  settlements.  The  days  of  this  three- 
day  week  are  separately  named,  and  hence  the  Wachaga 
always  know  where  the  market  is  to  be  held.  The 
markets,  which  are  said  to  be  very  ancient,  are  visited 
only  by  women.5  The  English  missionary,  David 

1  J.  L.  Krapf,  Travels,  Researches,  that  the  Wagiriama  observe  jumwa 
and  Missionary  Labours,  London,  both  as  a  market  day  and  a  rest 
1867,  pp.  82,  365.  day.     Similarly,  the  name  of  the 

2  W.  W.  A.  Fitzgerald,  Travels  in  weekly    market    held    at   Antana- 
the  Coastlands  of  British  East  Africa,  narivo,  the  capital  of  Madagascar, 
London,    1898,    p.     in,     quoting  is  zoma,  or  Friday   (Antananarivo 
W.   E.  Taylor,    Vocabulary   of  the  Annual,  1889-1892,  iv,  372). 
Giryama  Language,  London,  1897.  3  K.  R.  Dundas,  in  Man,  1909, 
The    name    applied    to    the    first  ix,  38. 

day    of    the     week  — jumwa  —  is  4  W.  S.  Routledge  and  Katherine 

directly    taken    from    the    Arabic  Routledge,  With  a  Prehistoric  Peo- 

al  jum'a    (Friday,   the   Mohamme-  pie,  London,  1910,  pp.  105  sq. 

dan  day  of  worship),  from  which  5  A  Widenmann,  in  Petermanns 

circumstance  it  may  be  concluded  Mitteilungen,  1899,  Erganzungsheft, 


io8  REST  DAYS 

Livingstone,  has  described  the  markets  held  by  the 
Manyema,  who  occupy  part  of  the  territory  between 
Lake  Tanganyika  and  the  Congo.  As  many  as  three 
thousand  people,  chiefly  women,  may  sometimes  be 
seen  in  the  chitoka,  or  market  place.  The  market  is 
held  to-day  in  one  locality,  to-morrow  in  another,  and 
so  on  till  the  cycle  of  four  days  is  completed.1  Among 
the  natives  on  the  lower  Lomami  River,  near  the  equa- 
tor, markets  are  described  as  recurring  every  third 
day,2  and  among  the  Bakuba  (Bushongo),  who  occupy 
the  valley  of  the  Sankuru  River,  every  fifth  day.3  The 
Baluba,  whose  territory  lies  between  the  Sankuru  and 
Kasai  rivers,  hold  important  markets.  A  German 
explorer  who  was  present  at  one  of  them  described  the 
market  place  as  neutral  ground,  where  even  members 
of  hostile  tribes  might  appear  without  danger.  The 
chief,  in  whose  honour  this  primitive  fair  was  held, 
kept  peace  and  order,  assisted  by  half  a  dozen  stalwart 
guards  carrying  broad  axes  on  their  shoulders.  When- 
ever any  dispute  arose,  these  policemen  were  imme- 
diately on  the  scene  of  action.4  The  four-day  market 
week  is  found  among  various  tribes, such  as  the  Bayaka,5 
Bambala,6  and  Bahuana,7  occupying  the  region  between 
the  Loange  and  Kwango  rivers,  tributaries  of  the 
Kasai. 

no.  129,  p.  69;   M.  Merker,  ibid.,  4  H.  v.  Wissmann,  My  Second 

1902,  no.  138,  p.  25;   G.  Volkens,  Journey  through  Equatorial  Africa, 

Der  Kilimandscharo,  Berlin,   1897,  London,  1891,  p.  125. 

p.   239;    B.  Gutmann,    "Feldbau-  BTorday  and  Joyce,  in  Journal 

sitten  und  Wachstumsbrauche  der  of    the    Anthropological    Institute, 

Wadschagga,"  Zeitschrift  fur  Eth-  1906,  xxxvi,  44.     Each  day  of  the 

nologie,  1913,  xlv,  502.  Bayaka  week  bears   a  name,   the 

1  Horace    Waller,    editor,     The  last  being  pungu,  or  market  day 
Last  Journals  of  David  Livingstone  (ibid.,  p.  47). 

in  Central  Africa,  New  York,  1875,  6Torday  and  Joyce,  ibid.,  1905, 

p.  367.     See  also  V.  L.  Cameron,  xxxv,    413.     The     Bambala    year 

Across  Africa,  London,  1877,  ii,  3.  consists  of  thirteen  lunar  months, 

2  E.  Torday,  in  Mitteilungen  der  each   divided  into  seven  weeks   of 
anthropologischen     Gesellschaft     in  four  days,  the  last  day  of  each  week 
Wien,  1911,  xli,  192.  being  pika,  or  market  day. 

3  H.    v.   Wissmann   et    aL,   Im  1  Torday  and  Joyce,  ibid.,  1906, 
Innern     Afrikas,3     Leipzig,     1891,  xxxvi,  291. 

p.  252. 


MARKET  DAYS  109 

The  market  week  (lumingu1),  four  days  in  length, 
appears  to  be  generally  diffused  among  the  peoples  on 
both  banks  of  the  lower  Congo.  A  missionary,  long 
resident  in  this  part  of  Africa,  tells  us  that  here  the 
week  consists  of  four  days,  named  nkandu,  konzo, 
nkenge,  and  nsona  in  the  cataract  region.  The  markets 
are  designated  after  the  days  of  the  week  and  the  towns 
near  which  they  are  held.  For  instance,  the  Manyama 
market  is  known  as  nsona  a  Manyama,  because  it  is 
held  on  nsona  day.  The  great  trade  markets,  however, 
usually  occur  every  eighth  day,  for  the  convenience  of 
traders  and  to  insure  a  good  attendance.  At  the 
smaller,  local  markets,  held  every  fourth  day,  exchanges 
are  limited  to  goats,  fowls,  and  foodstuffs.  Every 
one  wants  to  increase  the  attendance  at  these  local 
markets ;  hence  it  may  be  declared  a  penal  offence  for 
a  woman  to  go  to  her  farm  on  the  market  day.  "In 
some  parts  another  day  of  the  short  week  is  declared 
to  be  an  unlucky  day  for  farming  operations.  This  is 
no  lingering  trace  of  the  idea  of  a  Sabbath,  for  the  day 
fixed  is  most  arbitrary,  two  adjacent  villages  avoid- 
ing different  days,  while  in  others  the  women  will  work 
any  day."  2  An  early  explorer,  referring  to  the  cus- 
tom of  observing  nsona  as  a  rest  day,  declares  that 
"on  this  day  they  refrain  from  working  in  the  planta- 
tions, under  the  superstitious  notion  that  the  crop 
would  fail ;  they,  however,  perform  any  other  kind  of 
work."  3  In  Loango,  where  the  natives  have  a  month 
of  twenty-eight  days  reckoned  from  new  moon,  seven 
weeks  are  counted  to  the  month.  The  four  weekdays 
are  called,  respectively,  nsona,  nduka,  ntono,  and 
nsilu,  the  first  being  regarded  as  a  day  of  rest.4  An- 
other writer  describes  sona  (nsona)  as  the  men's  day 

1  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston,  The  River  4  E.    Pechiiel-Loesche,    in     Die 
Congo,  London,  1884,  p.  455.  Loango-Expedition,  dritte  Abteilung, 

2  H.  H.  Bentley,  Pioneering  on  erste  Halfte,  Stuttgart,  1907,  p.  139. 
the  Congo,  London,  1900,  i,  399  sq.  See  also  A.   Bastian,  Die  deutsche 

3  J.  K.  Tuckey,  Narrative  of  an  Expedition    an    der    Loango- Kiiste, 
Expedition    to    explore    the    River  Jena,  1874,  i,  209. 

Zaire,  New  York,  1818,  p.  238. 


i  io  REST  DAYS 

of  rest,  but  the  women's  market  day,  when  the  latter 
buy  and  sell  in  the  market.  At  this  time  it  is  regarded 
as  wrong  for  husbands  to  have  intercourse  with  their 
wives.  On  another  day,  ntona  (ntono),  the  women 
may  not  plant,  and  burials  take  place.1  With  these 
accounts  it  is  interesting  to  compare  the  statement  of 
an  old  writer,  according  to  whom  the  Loango  negroes 
"never  work  above  three  days  in  succession  ;  the  fourth 
is  for  them  a  general  rest  day,  during  which  they  are 
not  allowed  to  engage  in  tillage.  The  men,  who  re- 
pose habitually,  work  still  less  on  that  day.  They 
walk,  sport,  and  go  to  market.  The  missionaries  have 
been  unable  to  procure  from  the  negroes  any  expla- 
nation of  this  period  of  four  days,  which  forms  their 
week."  2 

The  market  is  a  well-developed  institution  among 
the  semi-civilized  negroes  about  the  Gulf  of  Guinea. 
In  this  part  of  Africa  the  Sabbatarian  character  of  the 
market  day  is  specially  pronounced.  Markets  every 
third,  fifth,  eighth,  or  tenth  day  have  been  noticed 
in  the  interior  districts  of  Kamerun.  Market  days 
are  observed  with  abstinence  from  work  of  every  sort, 
including  farm  labour;  indeed,  says  an  observer, 
they  may  be  considered  the  Sundays  of  the  native 

1  R.  E.  Dennett,  At  the  Back  of  1687,    p.   24.     For  further  details 
the   Black    Man's   Mind,    London,  relating    to    markets   and   market 
1906,  pp.  64,  140;    idem,  Notes  on  weeks    among    the    lower     Congo 
the  Folklore  of  the  Fjort,  London,  peoples   see    Herbert    Ward,   Five 
1898,  pp.  8,  137.     Among  the  lower  Years    with  the   Congo   Cannibals, 
Congo  tribes,  generally,  the  dead  London,  1890,  p.  59;  J.  H.  Weeks, 
are  buried  only  on  two  of  the  four  Congo  Life  and  Folklore,  London, 
weekdays  (J.  H.  Weeks,  in  Folk-  1911,  pp.  227  sq.;   H.  Nipperdey, 
lore,  1909,  xx,  6 1 ;    compare  idem,  "Zur     Bedeutung     der     Wochen- 
Among  the  Primitive  Bakongo,  Phil-  Markte  am  Congo,"  Revue  coloniale 
adelphia,  1914,  p.  249).  international,    1887,    v,    205-214; 

2  L.     B.     Proyart,    Histoire    de  A.  Thonnar,  Essai  sur  le  systeme 
Loango,  Kakongo,  et  autres  royaumes  economique    des    primitifs    d'apres 
d'Afrique,  Paris,  1776,  p.   116.     A  les  populations  de  I'etat  independant 
still  earlier  reference  to  this  Afri-  du  Congo,  Brussels,  1901,  pp.  82- 
can  Sabbath  will  be  found  in  G.  114;  A.  Cureau,  Les  societes  primi- 
A.   Cavazzi   da   Montecuccoli,   Is-  tives  de  I'Afrique  equatoriale,  Paris, 
torica  descrizione  de'  tre  regni  Congo,  1912,  pp.  295  sqq. 

Matamba,     et     Angola,     Bologna, 


MARKET  DAYS  in 

In  Old  Calabar  the  week  consists  of  eight 
days.  The  weekdays  are  named  from  peculiar  rites 
of  the  egbo  secret  society  performed  thereon,  or  from 
the  markets  which  occur  on  them.  That  the  week 
here  originally  contained  four  days  only  is  obvious 
from  the  circumstance  that  the  names  applied  to  the 
second  group  of  four  days  are  the  same  as  those  which 
the  four  days  of  the  first  group  receive,  except  for  being 
preceded  in  each  case  by  the  adjective  " little." 2 
The  Ibo  and  other  tribes  of  the  Niger  Delta  (Southern 
Nigeria)  observe  eke,  the  first  day  of  the  four-day  week, 
as  the  appropriate  time  for  abstaining  from  toilsome 
labour  and  for  marketing.  Natives  are  forbidden 
to  climb  a  cocoanut  tree  on  eke?  Among  the  Asaba 
people,  a  branch  of  the  powerful  Ibo  tribe,  there  seems 
not  to  be  any  communal  regulation  respecting  the 
observance  of  eke :  "the  days  for  rest,  for  public  market, 
and  for  work  vary  with  the  individual  according  to  the 
particular  governing  juju  [fetish]  as  determined  by  the 
medicine  man."  4  Among  the  Edo,  or  Bini,  of  Southern 
Nigeria  the  week  is  everywhere  a  recognized  period 
of  time.  It  is,  properly  speaking,  four  days  in  length, 
this  being  the  interval  between  the  two  markets  in^any 

1 F.   Hutter,    Wanderungen  und  Exploring    Voyage,   London,    1856, 

Forschungen    im    Nord-Hinterland  p.   316).     An  early  missionary  to 

von    Kamerun,    Brunswick,     1902,  west   Africa  observes  that  among 

pp.  266,  360;    compare  Preuss,  in  the  Ibo,  Igara,  and  other  Nigerian 

Deutsches    Kolonialblatt,    1898,    ix,  tribes  the  week  consists  of  four  days, 

456.  viz.  eke,  a  market  day  and  unlucky 

2  W.  F.  Daniell,  in  Journal  of  the  for  the  ata,  or  chief,  to  see  strangers, 
Ethnological  Society,  1848,  i,  222  sq.  ede,  a  lucky  or  good  day,  afo,  an 

3  A.    G.    Leonard,     The    Lower  unlucky  day,  and  uko,  a  lucky  day. 
Niger  and  its  Tribes,  London,  1906,  Besides   these   days   of  good    and 
PP-     395>     375  >      William     Allen,  evil  omen  the  Mohammedans  have 
Narrative  of  the  Expedition  sent  by  made  the  natives  believe  that  Fri- 
Her    Majesty's    Government    to    the  day  is  an  unlucky  day  to   under- 
River  Niger  in  184.1,  London,  1848,  take     any     work     of     importance 
i>  398;    N.  W.  Thomas,  Anthropo-  (S.    A.    Crowther,    in   The   Church 
logical  Report  on  the  Ibo-speaking  Missionary  Intelligencer,  1865,  n.s., 
Peoples  of  Nigeria,  London,  1913,  i,  i,  55). 

127.     Seven  weeks  are  here  counted  4  J.  Parkinson,  in  Journal  of  the 

to     the     month     of    twenty-eight       Anthropological      Institute,      1906, 
days  (W.  F.  Baikie,  Narrative  of  an      xxxvi,  317. 


ii2  REST  DAYS 

given  locality.  Occasionally,  as  in  the  Ida  District, 
markets  are  found  every  eighth  day,  "but  the  names 
applied  to  the  intervening  days  clearly  show  that  a 
four-day  week  was  the  primary  one."  One  of  the  four 
days  is  commonly  known  as  the  rest  day,  when  men 
often  stay  at  home  —  though  farm  work  is  not  absolutely 
forbidden  —  and  when  women  go  to  the  market.1 

The  excellent  studies  of  the  late  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Ellis,  supplemented  by  later  accounts,  furnish  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  information  regarding  the  rest 
days  observed  by  the  Yoruba-speaking  and  Ewe- 
speaking  peoples  of  the  Slave  Coast  and  by  the  Tshi- 
speaking  and  Ga-speaking  peoples  of  the  Gold  Coast. 
Some  of  these  African  Sabbaths  are  kept  only  by  fami- 
lies or  by  the  inhabitants  of  a  single  locality.  Among 
the  Tshi,  for  example,  on  the  day  sacred  to  the  tutelary 
deity  of  a  family  all  its  members  wear  white  or  light- 
coloured  clothes,  mark  themselves  with  white  clay,  and 
abstain  from  work.  The  day  sacred  to  the  tutelary 
deity  of  a  town  is  celebrated  in  the  same  manner.2 

1  N.  W.  Thomas,  Anthropologi-  to  enable  them,  as  every  person  is 

cal    Report    on    the    Edo-speaking  obliged  to  celebrate  this  festival" 

Peoples  of  Nigeria,  London,  1910,  (David  van  Nyendael,  "A  Descrip- 

i,  1 8  sq.    That  the  eight-day  week  tion  of  Rio  Formosa,  or  the  River 

of  the  Bini  has  developed  from  a  of  Benin,"  in  W.  Bosman,  A  New 

more  ancient  four-day  week  is  also  and    Accurate    Description    of    the 

the  opinion  of  R.  E.  Dennett  (At  Coast    of   Guinea,    London,    1705, 

the  Back  of  the  Black  Man's  Mind,  p.  456). 

pp.  214,  364).  The  Bini  week  has  2  A.  B.  Ellis,  The  Tshi-speaking 
been  stated  to  consist  of  five  days  Peoples,  London,  1887,  pp.  89,  93. 
(Cyril  Punch,  quoted  in  H.  L.  On  the  Gold  Coast  white  seems  to 
Roth,  Great  Benin,  Halifax  [Eng.],  be  the  special  colour  appropriate  for 
1903,  p.  52  n.1),  but  this  is  cer-  holy  or  festive  days.  On  a  man's 
tainly  an  error.  An  early  traveller  birthday,  which  is  sacred  to  his  kra, 
among  the  Bini  declares  that  their  or  tenanting  spirit,  he  abstains 
Sabbath  "happens  every  fifth  day,  from  work,  puts  white  clay  on  his 
which  is  very  solemnly  observed  face,  and  dons  a  white  cloth 
by  the  great  with  the  slaughter  (ibid.,  p.  156).  On  the  Tshi  holy 
of  cows,  sheep,  and  goats,  whilst  days,  observed  by  families  or  pri- 
the  commonalty  kill  dogs,  cats,  and  vate  persons  only,  see  further  Bos- 
chickens,  or  whatever  their  money  man,  op.  cit.,  p.  153;  W.  Hutton, 
will  reach  to.  And  of  whatever  A  Voyage  to  Africa,  London,  1821, 
is  killed,  large  portions  are  distrib-  p.  166  n*  (Ashanti) ;  E.  Perre- 
uted  to  the  necessitous,  in  order  gaux,  Chez  les  Achanti,  Neuchatel, 


MARKET  DAYS  113 

In  this  part  of  west  Africa  particular  days  of  the  week 
are  assigned  to  the  gods  worshipped  by  different  classes 
of  the  community.  The  Yoruba  keep  the  first  day  of 
the  week  as  a  general  Sabbath,  but  each  of  the  remain- 
ing days  is  a  period  of  rest  only  for  the  followers  of 
the  god  to  which  it  is  dedicated.1  For  the  adherents 
of  a  god  to  violate  the  day  sacred  to  him  is  a  serious 
offence,  punishable  with  a  fine,  and  in  former  times, 
with  death.  The  notion  prevails  that,  if  the  honour 
of  the  god  is  not  vindicated  by  his  followers,  all  will 
suffer  for  the  neglect.  "The  Sabbath-breaker  is,  in 
fact,  killed  by  the  other  worshippers  of  the  god  from 
motives  of  self-protection."  2  While  the  first  day  of  the 
Tshi  week  is  a  general  Sabbath,  bna-da,  the  second  day, 
is  the  fishermen's  holiday.  Any  fisherman  who  ven- 
tures forth  on  this  day  is  fined  and  his  catch  thrown 
into  the  sea.  In  former  times  he  would  have  been  put 
to  death.3  The  fifth  day,  iffi-da,  of  the  Tshi  week  is 
the  regular  rest  day  for  farmers.4  Similarly,  among 
the  Ewe  every  tribal  deity,  with  one  exception,  has  a 
sacred  day,  observed  by  his  followers  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  much  eating,  drinking,  and  dancing.5 

All  these  west  African  peoples  divide  the  month  into 
weeks  and  keep  one  weekday  as  a  general  Sabbath. 
Among  the  Yoruba,  whose  week  is  said  to  consist  of 
five  days,6  the  first  day  (ako-ojo)  "is  considered  un- 

1906,    p.    272;     J.    Parkinson,    in  4  Ellis,     Tshi-speaking    Peoples* 

Man,  1911,  xi,  2  (Appolonians).  pp.  220,  304. 

1  Ellis,  The  Y or  uba-s  peaking  Peo-  6  Idem,   The  Ewe-speaking  Peo- 
ples, London,  1894,  p.  145.  pies,  London,  1890,  pp.  41,  79. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  149.  6  Ako-ojo,    "First    Day";    ojo- 

3  Ellis,     Tshi-speaking     Peoples,  awo,  "  Day  of  the  Secret,"  sacred 
pp.  220  sq.    Beecham  declares  that  to  Ifa ;    ojo-ogun,  "  Day  of  Ogun," 
were  the  fishermen  to  go  out  to  sea  the  god  of  iron ;   ojo-shango,  "  Day 
on  this  day,  "the  fetish  would  be  of  Shango,"  the  god  of  thunder; 
angry     and     spoil     their    fishing"  ojo-obatala,    "Obatala's    Day."     A 
(Ashantee     and     the     Gold     Coast,  holy  day  is  called  ose  (se,  to  dis- 
London,  1841,  p.    186).     Compare  allow),  and  because  each  holy  day 
also    Bosman,     op.    cit.,    p.     160;  recurs  weekly,  ose  has  also  come 
Miss    Mary    H.     Kingsley,    West  to    mean    the   week   of  five   days 
African  Studies,2  London,  1901,  p.  (Ellis,      Yoruba-speaking     Peoples, 
145.  pp.    145    sq.}.     According    to    an 

i 


REST  DAYS 


lucky,  and  no  business  of  importance  is  ever  under- 
taken on  it.  On  this  day  all  the  temples  are  swept 
out,  and  water,  for  the  use  of  the  gods,  is  brought  in 
procession."  1  The  Ewe  of  Dahomey  are  said  to  ob- 
serve every  fourth  day  as  a  holiday,  "not  kept  holy, 
but  devoted  to  the  will  of  the  working  classes  ;  in  short, 
a  sort  of  remuneration  to  the  slave  for  the  three  days' 
labour."  2  Weeks  of  four,  five,  and  six  days,  usually 
ending  in  a  general  market  day  which  is  also  a  rest  day, 
have  been  observed  in  various  parts  of  Togo.3 


earlier  writer  osse  (ose),  or  holy  day, 
comes  from  a  word  signifying 
silence.  This  expression  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Christian  Sunday, 
with  which  the  Yoruba  became 
familiar  after  the  year  1822,  when 
many  of  them  emigrated  to  Sierra 
Leone  (Miss  Sarah  Tucker,  Ab- 
beokuta;  or  Sunrise  within  the 
Tropics?  London,  1853,  p.  37 
n*).  Whether  the  Yoruba  week 
really  consists  of  five  days  seems 
open  to  grave  doubt.  Bishop 
James  Johnson,  a  native  African, 
substantiates  Ellis  by  giving  the 
names  of  the  five  days  (quoted  in 
Dennett,  At  the  Back  of  the  Black 
Mans  Mind,  p.  245),  and  also 
speaks  of  "every  fifth  day,  which 
is  the  close  of  a  week  of  oses,  or 
worshipping  days"  (ibid.,  p.  251). 
But  Mr.  Dennett  himself,  in  his 
latest  work,  cites  three  native 
informants  in  favour  of  a  week  of 
four  days.  Moreover,  Shango's 
(Jakuta's)  Day  is  described  by  Mr. 
Dennett  as  the  Yoruba  "Sunday." 
The  first  day  of  the  week  is  Ogun's 
Day,  the  other  weekdays  follow- 
ing in  the  order  given  by  Ellis. 
It  is  to  be  noted  that  Ogun's  Day, 
the  first,  fifth,  ninth,  and  so  on,  is 
the  regular  market  day.  The  god 
Ogun  in  some  parts  of  Yorubaland 
has  taken  the  place  of  another 
deity,  Odudua,  whom  Mr.  Dennett 
found  to  be  universally  regarded 
as  the  originator  of  the  system  of 


weekdays  (Nigerian  Studies,  Lon- 
don, 1910,  pp.  72-80).  A  five-day 
week  has  been  noted  among  the 
Jebu  of  southeastern  Yorubaland 
(D'Avezac,  in  Memoires  de  la 
societe  ethnologique,  1845,  ii,  pt.  ii, 
81),  and  Burton  refers  to  the  same 
institution  among  the  Egba,  by 
whom  the  terminal  day  is  called 
ose  (R.  F.  Burton,  Abeokuta  and  the 
Camaroons  Mountains,  London, 
1863,  i,  205). 

1  Ellis,  Y or uba-s peaking  Peoples, 

P-  H5- 

2  F.  E.  Forbes,  Dahomey  and  the 
Dahomans,  London,   1851,  p.   181. 
For  every  fourth  day  as  the  mar- 
ket day  at  Whydah  see  P.  E.  Isert, 
Neue  Reise  nach  Guinea  und  den 
Caribdischen    Inseln    in    Amerika, 
Berlin,  1790,  p.  132.     Bosman  (op. 
cit.,     p.     352)     makes     the     Fida 
(Whyda)  market  recur  every  third 
day.     A  great  market  every  sixth 
day  is  said  to  be  held  in  the  district 
about  the  town  of  Ardrah  (Allada), 
Dahomey  (John  Adams,  Remarks 
on  the  Country  extending  from  Cape 
Palmas  to  the  River  Congo,  London, 
1823,  p.  88). 

3  Four-day    weeks  :     R.    Plehn, 
Beitrdge  zur  Folkerkunde  des  Togo- 
Gebietes,    Halle,    1898,    p.    9;     J. 
Spieth,    Die    Ewe-Stdmme,    Berlin, 
1906,  p.  3 1 1  (Ho) ;  five-day  weeks  : 
R.     Plehn,     in     Mitteilungen     von 
Forschungsreisenden   und   Gelehrten 
aus    den    deutschen    Schutzgebieten, 


MARKET  DAYS 


The  week  of  seven  days  is  not  unknown  to  the  Guinea 
negroes.  Its  presence  in  the  hinterland  of  Togo  is 
clearly  due  to  the  influence  of  Islam ;  in  fact,  the  mar- 
ket day  here  recurs  on  Friday,  the  Mohammedan 
Sabbath.1  Some  of  the  Ewe  peoples  nearer  the  Slave 
Coast  also  use  a  seven-day  cycle,  which  appears  to 
have  been  borrowed  by  them  from  their  neighbours, 
the  Tshi  tribes  of  the  Gold  Coast.2  The  Tshi  keep 
adjwo-da,  the  first  day  of  their  seven-day  week,  as  a 
general  Sabbath.3  The  Ga  of  the  Gold  Coast,  who  also 
have  the  seven-day  week,  observe  the  first  day  as  a 
communal  Sabbath.  Its  name,  dsu,  means  "puri- 
fication," a  term  which  seems  also  to  have  been  used 
as  a  title  of  the  moon.4 


1896,  ix,  123;  six-day  weeks:  von 
Zech,  ibid.,  1898,  xi,  128;  Chris- 
taller,  in  Mitteilungen  der  geogra- 
phischen  Gesellschaft  fur  Thuringen, 
1890,  viii,  121 ;  L.  Conradt,  in 
Petermanns  Mitteilungen,  1896,  xlii, 
15  (Adele).  The  Akposo,  who 
have  a  week  of  five  days,  keep  the 
fifth  day  sacred  to  their  creator-god, 
Uwolowo,  whose  name  it  bears. 
The  other  gods  are  worshipped  on 
the  second  day  of  the  week,  a  time 
when  no  work  may  be  done  (F. 
Miiller,  in  Anthropos,  1907,  ii,  201). 

1  A.   Mischlich,  in  Mitteilungen 
von  Forschungsreisenden  und  Gelehr- 
ten  aus  den  deutschen  Schutzgebieten, 
1896,  ix,  83. 

2  E.  Henrici,  Lehrbuch  der  Ephe- 
Sprache,  Stuttgart,  1891,  pp.  59  sq. 
The  names  of  the  seven  weekdays 
in  the  Ewe  and  Tshi  languages  are 
almost  identical.     See  the  lists  in 
Henrici,   op.  cit.,   pp.   59  sq.,  and 
Ellis,  Tshi-speaking  Peoples,  p.  218. 
The  Ewe  have  borrowed  from  the 
Tshi   not  only  the   names   of  the 
weekdays  but  also  the  custom  of 
giving   to    private    persons   names 
derived  from  those  of  the  weekdays 
(Henrici,  op.  cit.,  p.  60). 

3  Ellis,  Y or uba-s peaking  Peoples, 


pp.   146  sq.;    idem,    Tshi-speaking 
Peoples,  p.  218. 

4  Ellis,  Yoruba-speaking  Peoples, 
p.  147.  For  the  names  of  the  Ga 
weekdays,  see  ibid.,  p.  143.  An 
early  writer,  whose  observations 
were  confined  to  Akkra  on  the  Gold 
Coast,  speaks  of  haughbah  (ho-gba) 
as  one  ot  the  two  sacred  days  of  the 
seven-day  week.  It  is  compulsory 
for  all  ranks  and  sexes,  but  is  espe- 
cially observed  by  the  women. 
"Under  the  supposition  that  some 
malign  potency  pervades  the  sur- 
rounding country  on  this  day,  more 
particularly  directed  against  the 
pregnant  women,  their  daily  avo- 
cations are  restricted  within  the 
walls  of  their  domiciles,  no  egress 
being  tolerated  either  for  the  pur- 
poses of  travelling  or  other  exterior 
occupations.  Not  many  people, 
therefore,  presume  to  violate  these 
injunctions  by  issuing  forth  early  in 
the  forenoon,  and  none  resort  to 
their  familiar  haunts  in  the  markets 
or  public  thoroughfares,  until  the 
prohibition  has  been  withdrawn, 
by  the  well-known  sign  of  a  declin- 
ing sun"  (W.  F.  Daniell,  in  Journal 
of  the  Ethnological  Society,  1856,  iv, 
23). 


n6 


REST  DAYS 


Although  market  weeks  of  varying  length  have  been 
reported  among  some  of  the  other  Sudanese  negroes 
south  of  the  Niger,1  it  is  clear  that  the  Mohammedan 
advance  in  this  region  has  brought  with  it  the  week  of 
seven  days  and  the  custom  of  holding  a  market  every 
seventh  day.2  Similarly,  in  other  parts  of  Africa,  as 
on  the  lower  Congo,  the  European  week  of  seven  days 
has  taken  the  place  of  the  shorter  native  cycles,  with 
the  result  that,  where  earlier  the  market  came  every 
fourth  day,  at  present  it  recurs  every  seventh  day.3 
These  facts  make  it  practically  certain  that  the  seven- 
day  week,  found  among  the  Ewe,  Tshi,  and  Ga,  was 
originally  taken  over  from  Islam.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Ellis,  indeed,  regarded  it  as  a  purely  African  insti- 
tution,4 but  he  himself  pointed  out  that  Mohammedan 
states  were  formed  to  the  north  of  the  forest  country 


1 R.  A.  Freeman,  Travels  and 
Life  in  Ashanti  and  Jdman,  West- 
minster, 1898,  p.  176  (market 
every  fourth  day  among  the  Ga- 
man,  a  Tshi-speaking  people) ; 
M.  Monnier,  France  noire,  Paris, 
1894,  p.  209  (market  every  fifth 
day  in  Kong) ;  L.  G.  Binger,  Du 
Niger  au  golfe  de  Guinee,  Paris, 
1892,  i,  370  (market  every  fifth  day 
among  the  Diulasu) ;  L.  Desplagnes, 
Le  plateau  central  nigerien,  Paris, 
1907,  p.  377  (market  every  sixth 
day  among  the  Habbe).  A  market 
every  ninth  day  is  described  as 
being  held  at  Bocqua  in  Northern 
Nigeria  (R.  Lander  and  J.  Lander, 
Journal  of  an  Expedition  to  explore 
the  Course  and  Termination  of  the 
Niger,  London,  1832,  iii,  73,  82). 
For  a  general  account  of  markets 
among  the  Nigerian  peoples  see  A. 
Hovelacque,  Les  negres  de  I'Afrique 
sus-equatoriale,  Paris,  1889,  pp.  355 
sqq. 

2  A.  Mischlich,  Lehrbuch  der 
hausanischen  Sprache,  Berlin,  1902, 
p.  127  (Hausa) ;  J.  S.  Gallieni, 
Voyage  au  Soudan  franqais,  Haut- 
Niger,  et  pays  de  Segou,  Paris,  1885, 


p.  436  (Segu) ;  R.  Gallic,  Travels 
through  Central  Africa  to  Timbuctoo, 
London,  1830,  i,  323,  346  (Man- 
dingo)  ;  A.  Hacquard,  Monographie 
de  Tombouctou,  Paris,  1900,  p.  55; 
O.  Lenz,  Timbuktu,  Leipzig,  1884,  i, 
154.  The  Bali  market  is  said  to  be 
held  every  seventh  day,  i.e.,  on  Fri- 
day. Here,  again,  Mohammedan 
influence  is  to  be  suspected  (F.  Hut- 
ter,  Wanderungen  und  Forschungen 
im  Nord-Hinterland  von  Kamerun, 
Brunswick,  1902,  p.  361). 

3  C.    van  Overbergh,  Les  May- 
ombe,  Brussels,  1907,,  p.  353  ;   A.  de 
Calonne  Beaufaict,  Etudes  Bakango, 
Liege,  1912,  p.  79;    J.  H.  Weeks, 
Among  the  Primitive  Bakongo,  Phil- 
adelphia, 1914,  pp.  248  sq.    Some  of 
the  Galla  tribes  have  been  so  far 
affected  by  Arabic  influences  as  to 
hold  their  markets  every  seventh 
day    (P.    Paulitsche,   Ethnographie 
Nordost-Afrikas.        Die    materielle 
Kultur   der    Dandkil,    Galla,    und 
Somal,  Berlin,  1893,  p.  313). 

4  Ellis,     Tshi-speaking     Peoples, 
p.    217.     So   also   B.   Cruickshank 
(Eighteen  Years  on  the  Gold  Coast  of 
Africa,  London,  1853,  ii,  189  sq.}. 


MARKET  DAYS  117 

of  the  Gold  Coast  as  early  as  the  eleventh  century  A.D., 
and  that  the  period  since  then  has  been  long  enough 
to  allow  the  new  mode  of  reckoning  to  become  known 
throughout  the  entire  country.  The  Tshi,  who  seem 
to  have  moved  from  the  Sudan  interior  to  the  coast 
districts  at  no  very  remote  period,  doubtless  took  with 
them  their  septenary  mode  of  reckoning,  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  they  communicated  to  the  Ewe  and  the  Ga. 
The  market,  with  its  accompaniments,  the  market 
week  and  the  market  day,  has  thus  been  shown  to 
prevail  throughout  equatorial  Africa,  on  the  Guinea 
coast,  and  in  the  basin  of  the  Niger  and  the  Nile.1 
The  wide  diffusion  of  this  institution  is  doubtless  in 
large  measure  the  outcome  of  borrowing  from  tribe  to 
tribe.  A  market,  however,  tends  naturally  to .  come 
into  existence  whenever  neighbouring  peoples  have 
goods  to  exchange  and  the  willingness  to  exchange 
them.  The  market  place  is  originally  in  some  neutral 
district  on  the  tribal  borders,  where  all  hostilities  must 
cease.  In  process  of  time  the  increasing  friendliness 
between  communities  makes  it  possible  for  the  market 
to  be  held  in  the  different  settlements  according  to  a 
definite  and  well-known  sequence.  With  the  regular 
market  is  inseparably  connected  the  market  week,  the 
length  of  which  varies  from  three  to  ten  days.  The 
shorter  intervals  of  three,  four,  and  five  days  reflect 
the  simple  economy  of  primitive  life,  since  the  market 
must  recur  with  sufficient  frequency  to  permit  neigh- 
bouring communities,  who  keep  on  hand  no  large  stocks 
of  food  and  other  necessaries,  to  obtain  them  from  one 
another.  The  longer  cycles  of  six,  eight,  and  ten  days, 
much  less  common,  apparently  arise  by  doubling  the 

1  No  evidence  for  markets  has  River,  Belgian  Congo) ;  J.  Maes,  in 
been  discovered  among  the  Bantu  Anthropos,  1913,  viii,  357  (Mon- 
tribes  south  of  the  Zambesi.  The  gelima,  on  the  Aruwimi  River,  Bel- 
absence  of  markets  elsewhere  is  gian  Congo) ;  A.  J.  N.  Tremearne, 
sometimes  specifically  noted  by  our  The  Tailed  Head-hunters  of  Nigeria, 
authorities;  see  F.  Thonner,  Im  London,  1912,  p.  245  (Kagoro  and 
afrikanischen  Urwald,  Berlin,  1898,  other  pagan  tribes  of  Northern 
p.  33  (Mondunga,  on  the  Dua  Nigeria). 


n8  REST  DAYS 

earlier  period,  whenever  it  is  desired  to  hold  a  great 
market  for  the  produce  of  a  wide  area.  That  the 
recurrence  of  the  market  determines  the  length  of  the 
week  is  made  obvious  by  the  practice  of  naming  the 
several  weekdays  from  the  markets  that  take  place  on 
them.1  Thus  there  comes  into  existence  a  definite 
and  recognized  cycle  of  time,  shorter  than  the  lunar 
month  and  in  origin  unconnected  with  it,  a  true  peri- 
odic week,  running  continuously  from  month  to  month 
and  from  year  to  year. 

A  market  day  is  necessarily  more  or  less  of  a  rest 
day.  Those  who  attend  a  market  must  abandon  for 
the  time  being  their  usual  occupations.  It  is  also  a 
holiday,  aifording  opportunities  for  social  intercourse, 
sports,  and  amusements  of  all  sorts.  Such  seems  to 
be  the  character  of  most  of  the  market  days  found  in 
southeastern  Asia  and  the  adjacent  islands,  as  well  as 
in  some  parts  of  Africa.  On  the  lower  Congo,  however, 
the  market  day  sometimes  bears  an  unlucky  character, 
and  a  distinct  tendency  exists  to  attach  various  re- 
strictions to  it.  In  the  Guinea  region  the  market  day 
often,  though  not  always,  coincides  with  the  general 
day  of  rest  observed  by  an  entire  community.  As 
such  it  may  be  consecrated  to  a  god.  The  same  prac- 
tice, we  have  seen,  prevails  in  respect  to  the  holy  days 
of  individuals,  families,  towns,  and  particular  classes 
of  the  community.  This  extensive  development  of 
Sabbatarian  regulations  appears  to  be  peculiar  to  west 
Africa. 

The  market  week  and  the  market  day,  though  appar- 
ently unknown  to  the  ruder  tribes  of  America,  formed 
a  feature  of  those  more  advanced  civilizations  which 
were  developed  in  the  valleys  of  Mexico  and  Central 
America,  and  on  the  lofty  tablelands  of  Colombia  arid 
Peru.  Each  important  pueblo  of  Mexico  held  a  market 
(tianguiztli)  every  fifth  day,  it  being  provided  that 
neighbouring  pueblos  should  observe  different  days, 
in  order  to  secure  a  regular  sequence  of  markets.  All 
1  Above,  pp.  107,  109,  in. 


MARKET  DAYS 


119 


adults  were  obliged  by  law  to  resort  to  the  tianguiztli, 
and  severe  penalties  were  imposed  on  those  who  ex- 
changed commodities  anywhere  but  at  the  appointed 
place  and  at  the  appointed  time.  The  market  days  of 
old  Mexico  thus  appear  as  compulsory  holidays,  when 
the  people  relinquished  their  usual  occupations  and 
assembled  in  great  numbers,  not  only  to  buy  and  sell, 
but  also,  as  we  are  told,  to  engage  in  games  and  festiv- 
ities.1 The  five-day  market  week  also  existed  in 
various  parts  of  Central  America.2  In  the  Colombian 
Andes,  among  the  Muysca  (Chibcha)  of  Bogota,  who 
had  attained  a  degree  of  civilization  far  in  advance  of 
that  reached  by  the  other  aborigines  of  Colombia, 
regular  markets  took  place,  apparently  every  third 
day.3  If  the  Muysca  week  consisted  only  of  three 
days,  that  of  the  Peruvians  extended  to  ten  days,  end- 
ing in  a  holiday  which  was  also  a  market  day.  The 
institution  was  attributed  to  the  Apu-Ccapac-Ynca, 
whose  beneficent  activities  gained  for  him  the  appella- 
tion of  Pachacutec,  "Reformer  of  the  World."  To 


JD.  F.  S.  Clavigero,  Storia 
antica  del  Messico,  Cesena,  1780,  ii, 
62,  163 ;  B.  de  Sahagim,  Historia 
general  de  las  cosas  de  Nueva 
Espana,  transl.  Jourdanet  and 
Simeon,  Paris,  1880,  pp.  Ixxiii, 
290  sq.;  A.  von  Humboldt,  Vues 
des  Cordilleresy  Paris,  1816,  ii,  340; 
G.  Briihl,  Die  Culturvolker  Alt- 
Amerikasy  New  York,  1887,  p.  234; 
J.  Kohler,  "Das  Recht  der  Az- 
teken,"  Zeitschrift  fur  vergleichende 
Rechtswissenschaft,  1895,  xi,  75,  87; 
E.  J.  Payne,  History  of  the  New 
World  called  America,  Oxford,  1892- 
1899,  ii,  359.  A  greater  market  or 
fair  was  sometimes  held  once  in 
every  cycle  of  twenty  days,  that  is, 
on  every  fourth  ordinary  market 
day.  Eighteen  market  months 
were  included  in  the  solar  year. 
How  such  "months'*  may  arise  is 
illustrated  by  a  Yoruba  mode  of 
computing  time  by  periods  of 


seventeen  days,  that  being  the 
number  of  days  in  four  market 
weeks,  when  the  first  and  fifth  days 
of  each  cycle  are  counted  in  (Ellis, 
Yoruba-speaking  Peoples,  pp.  149 
sq.). 

2  Brasseur  de   Bourbourg,  His- 
toire     des     nations     civilisees     du 
Mexique  et  de  FAmerique-Centrale, 
Paris,  1858,  iii,  464. 

3  A.  von  Humboldt,  op.  cit.y  i, 
340,  ii,  227;   Briihl,  op.  cit.t  p.  239; 
compare  p.   326,  where  a  market 
every  fourth  day  is  stated  to  have 
been  held  in  Turmeque.     In  Soro- 
toca  the  market  took  place  every 
eighth  day  (ibid.).     But  authentic 
details     concerning     the     Chibcha 
calendar  are  not  to  be  had.     Ac- 
cording to  von  Humboldt  (op.  cit., 
ii,  244)  ten  of  the  Muysca  "weeks" 
formed    a    lunation    called    suna. 
The  suna  began,  not  at  new  moon, 
but  at  full  moon. 


120  REST  DAYS 

an  old  chronicler,  himself  of  Ynca  blood,  this  Peruvian 
Sabbath  appeared  to  be  devised  solely  for  utilitarian 
ends.  "In  order  that  labour  might  not  be  so  continu- 
ous as  to  become  oppressive,  the  Ynca  ordained  that 
there  should  be  three  holidays  every  month,  in  which 
the  people  should  divert  themselves  with  various  games. 
He  also  commanded  that  there  should  be  three  fairs 
every  month,  when  the  labourers  in  the  field  should 
come  to  market  and  hear  anything  that  the  Ynca  or  his 
council  might  have  ordained.  They  called  these 
assemblies  catu,  and  they  took  place  on  the  holidays."  1 
Considering  how  frequently  eight  and  ten-day  weeks 
have  arisen  by  doubling  periods  of  four  and  five  days, 
respectively,  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  Peruvian 
decade  grew  out  of  an  earlier  market  week  of  five  days 
similar  to  the  Mexican  institution. 

Another  important  instance  of  the  market  week  and 
the  market  day  in  archaic  civilizations  is  that  of  the 
Roman  nundinum  and  nundincz?  The  nundinal  cycle, 

1  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Comen-  romaines,v\\,  120-122;  E.  Huschke, 
tarios  reales  de  los  Incas,  pt.  i,  bk.  vi,  Das  alte  romische  Jahr  und  seine 
ch.  35;  C.  R.  Markham,  First  Part  Tage,  Breslau,  1869,  pp.  288-312; 
of  the   Royal  Commentaries   of  the  R.  Flex,   Die   dlteste  Monatseintei- 
Yncas,  London,   1871,  ii,  206.     It  lung  der  Romer,  Jena,  1880,  pp.  16 
is  an  old  error,  for  which  Garcilasso  sqq. ;    and   especially   P.   Huvelin, 
de  la  Vega  (op.  cit.,  pt.  i,  bk.  ii,  Essai   historique   sur   le    droit    des 
ch.  23)  appears  to  be  responsible,  marches  et  des  foires,  Paris,  1897, 
that  the  Peruvians  had  a  week  of  pp.      84-99.     According     to     the 
seven  days,  following  the  successive  Roman  system  of  inclusive  reckon- 
phases  of  the  moon.     But  Acosta,  ing  —  which     may     be     compared 
who   visited   Peru   soon   after   the  with  that  sometimes  employed  in 
Spanish  conquest  of  that  country,  is  Yorubaland     (p.     119     n.1)  —  the 
better  informed   and   says   clearly  market  fell  on  the  ninth  day,  as 
that  neither  Peruvians  nor  Mexi-  the  derivation  of  the  word  nundince 
cans  had  a  seven-day  week  (J.  de  (from    novem)    indicates.     It    has 
Acosta,HistoriadelasIndias,bk.vi,  been  suggested  by  H.  Diels  (Sibyl- 
ch.  3  ;    The  Natural  and  Moral  His-  linische  Blatter,  Berlin,  1890,  p.  41 
tory  of  the  Indies,  edited  by  C.  R.  ft.1)  that  the  choice  of  the  ninth 
Markham,  London,  1880,  ii,  396).  day  was  influenced  by  the  symbol- 

2  See  G.  E.  Marindin,  in  Smith,  ism  attaching  to  the  number  nine 
Wayte,  and  Marindin's  Dictionary  among  the  Romans,  as  among  other 
of  Greek   and  Roman  Antiquities,3  Indo-European   peoples;    compare 
ii,  251  sq.;  M.  Besnier,  in  Darem-  the  Nones,  or  the  ninth  day  before 
berg,  Saglio,  and  Pottier's  Diction-  the  Ides,  and  the  nine  days'  festi- 
naire     des     antiquites    grecques     et  vals     (novemdiales    feriee}.     Prob- 


MARKET  DAYS  121 

jight  days  in  length,  began  (or  closed)  with  a  day 
when  the  peasants  came  to  Rome  for  purposes  of 
trade.  The  nundinal  day,  however,  was  more  than  a 
market  day.  At  this  time  the  ordinary  occupa- 
tions were  interrupted  ;  schoolchildren  enjoyed  a  holi- 
day ;  and  sumptuous  banquets  celebrated  the  festive 
occasion. 

The  origin  and  early  development  of  the  nundincz 
are  veiled  in  obscurity.  The  institution  enjoyed  a 
high  antiquity,  tradition  ascribing  it  now  to  Romulus, 
now  to  Servius  Tullius,  and  now  to  the  first  consuls.1 
In  historic  times  the  nundince  present  themselves  as 
the  market  days  and  holidays  of  a  laborious  peasantry ; 
it  may  be  questioned,  indeed,  whether  they  were  ever 
anything  else.  It  seems  probable  that,  at  least  from 
the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  the  nundince  could 
be  used  for  the  settlement  of  judicial  business,  as  is 
indicated  by  a  passage  in  the  Twelve  Tables  referring 
to  them.2  Furthermore,  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that,  until  the  passage  of  the  Hortensian  law  in  287  B.C., 
the  nundinal  days  were  available  for  meetings  of  the 
public  assemblies.  This  unfortunate  piece  of  legis- 
lation effectually  debarred  the  rural  voters  from  partic- 
ipation in  law-making  on  the  very  occasions  when  the 
largest  number  of  them  would  naturally  be  in  the  capi- 
tal city.3  The  classical  writers  were  uncertain  whether 

ably,  however,  the  Roman  market  (Tabula    iii,  6,  in    Gellius,  Noctes 

week   consisted   originally  of  four  Attica,  xx,  i,  49). 

days  only,  and  later  was  doubled  3  Macrobius,  op.  cit.,  i,  16,  30; 

to    form    the    cycle    employed    in  Pliny,  Historia  naturalis,  xviii,  3. 

historic  times.     The  nundinal  days  I  accept  the  view  that  the  lex  Hor- 

were  not  named,  but  were  indicated  tensia  converted  the  nundince  into 

in  the  calendars  by  letters  of  the  dies  fasti  non  comitiales,   that   is, 

alphabet  from  A  to  H.  forbade  comitial  meetings  on  these 

1  Macrobius,    Saturnalia,    i,    16,  dates,  though  allowing  judicial  busi- 
32  sq.;  Dionysius  Halicarnassensis,  ness  to  be  done  thereon.     For  this 
Antiquitates  Romanes,  ii,  28,  vii,  58 ;  explanation   see   G.   W.    Botsford, 
compare  Varro,   De  re  rustica,   ii,  The  Roman  Assemblies,  New  York, 
praef.     Cicero    attributes    the    in-  1909,  pp.  139,315,471 ;  Marquardt- 
stitution  of  markets  to  Numa  (De  Wissowa,     Romische    Staatsverwal- 
republica,  ii,  14,  27).  tung,  Leipzig,  1885,  iii,2  290.     It  has 

2  Tertiis  nundinis  partis  secanto  been  maintained  that  toward  the 


122  REST  DAYS 

the  nundince  should  properly  be  included  among  the 
ferial  days,  that  is,  among  the  days  which  belonged  to 
gods  and  not  to  men.1  In  Varro's  time  the  pontiffs 
held  that  the  nundince  were  not  feriatce,  but  many 
writers,  cited  by  Macrobius,  maintained  the  contrary 
opinion.  The  nundince  certainly  never  became  public 
festivals  in  the  technical  sense,  though  they  were  dedi- 
cated to  Jupiter,  to  whom  the  Flaminica  Dialis  sacri- 
ficed a  bull  on  their  recurrence.2  In  this  consecration 
to  a  deity  the  nundince  further  resembled  some  of  the 
west  African  market  days. 

The  Roman  nundinum  and  nundince  have  much 
historic  interest.  The  eight-day  cycle,  as  a  periodic 
week  unconnected  with  the  lunar  month,  presented  a 
close  parallel  to  the  Jewish  week  of  seven  days.  Further 
parallels  existed  in  the  absence  of  names  for  the  week- 
days, Roman  and  Jewish,  and  in  the  special  observ- 
ance of  one  day  of  each  week  by  abstention  from  the 
customary  occupations.  It  is  scarcely  surprising  to 
find,  therefore,  that  the  Roman  nundince,  together  with 
the/m^,  contributed  to  the  development  of  the  Chris- 
tian Sunday.  The  earliest  Sunday  law  is  the  brief 
edict  of  Constantine  (321  A.D.),  enacting  that  magis- 
trates, city  people,  and  artisans  were  to  rest  "on  the 
venerable  day  of  the  Sun." 3  This  legislation  by 
Constantine  probably  bore  no  relation  to  Christianity ; 
it  appears,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  emperor,  in  his 
capacity  of  Pontifex  Maximus,  was  only  adding  the 
day  of  the  Sun,  the  worship  of  which  was  then  firmly 

end  of  the  republican  period  the  bili  die  Solis  quiescant  (Codex 
prohibition  referred  to  was  no  Justinianus,  iii,  12,  3).  The  pro- 
longer  observed  (P.  Groebe,  in  hibition  of  holding  court  on  Sun- 
Drumann-Groebe,  Geschichte  Roms,z  day  was  relaxed  by  Constantine  in 
Berlin,  1899-1906,  iii,  779).  the  same  year  so  far  as  to  permit 

1  Above,  pp.  94  sqq.  such  legal  proceedings  as  the  eman- 

2  Macrobius,  op.  cit.,  i,  16,  30.  cipation  and  manumission  of  slaves 
According  to  Plutarch  (Quezstiones  to  take  place  at  this  time  (Codex 
Romance,  42),   the    nundince    were  Theodosianus,  ii,  8,  i).     Eusebius 
consecrated  to  Saturn.  (Vita  Constantini,  iv,   18-20)  tells 

3  Omnes  judices  urbanceque  plebes  us    that   the   emperor   forbade   all 
et  cunctarum  artium  officia  venera-  military  exercises  on  Sunday. 


I 


( 


MARKET  DAYS  123 


stablished  in  the  Roman  Empire,  to  the  other  ferial 
days  of  the  sacred  calendar.  Much  significance  must 
be  attached  to  that  part  of  Constantine's  edict  permit- 
ting agricultural  labour  on  Sunday,  "since  it  frequently 
happens  that  the  sowing  of  grain  and  planting  of  vines 
cannot  be  so  advantageously  performed  on  any  other 
day."  In  this  particular  the  emperor  was  following 
the  long-accepted  rule  as  to  the  observance  of  the 
ferice  in  country  districts.1  Another  regulation  of 
Constantine's,  expressly  appointing  markets  to  be  held 
on  Sunday,  doubtless  represents  an  effort  to  assimilate 
the  old  Roman  nundinal  day  to  the  new  weekly  Sun- 
day.2 With  the  final  triumph  of  Christianity  over 
paganism  the  old  j 'erics  and  the  nundince  were  abolished, 
Sunday,  with  the  other  Christian  festivals,  being  sub- 
stituted in  their  place.3 

1  Above,  p.  98.  3  The  date  of  the  obsolescence  of 

2  Provisione  etiam  pietatis  su[a]e  the  nundince  is  not  definitely  known. 
nundinas    die    Solis    perpeti    anno  The    fasti    Philocali    (354     A.D.) 
constituit     (Corpus     inscriptionum  marks  the  days  of  the  seven-day 
Latinarum,  iii,  no.  4121,  p.   523).  week  by  the  letters  A-G,  and  gives 
Markets  were  held  on  Sunday  in  side    by    side    the    old    nundinal 
many  parts  of  Europe  until  late  in  letters  A-H  (Corpus  inscriptionum 
the  Middle  Ages,  in  spite  of  numer-  Latinarum,    i,    pt.     i,2    256    sqq.). 
ous  edicts,  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  This    arrangement    had    probably 
forbidding  the  practice   (Huvelin,  become    a    feature    of    the    state 
op.  cit.f  pp.  46, 156^.).  calendar  since  the  Sunday  legisla- 
tion of  Constantine. 


CHAPTER  V 

LUNAR    SUPERSTITIONS    AND    FESTIVALS 

THERE  is  good  reason  for  believing  that  among  many 
primitive  peoples  the  moon,  rather  than  the  sun,  the 
planets,  or  any  of  the  constellations,  first  excited  the 
imagination  and  aroused  feelings  of  superstitious  awe 
or  of  religious  veneration.  The  worship  of  the  moon 
is  widespread ;  and  in  various  mythologies  that  lumi- 
nary, often  conceived  as  masculine,  plays  the  most 
important  part  among  the  heavenly  bodies.1  "That 
the  moon  has  certain  effects  on  moist  substances,  that 
they  are  apparently  subject  to  her  influences,  that,  for 
instance,  increase  and  decrease  in  ebb  and  flow  develop 
periodically  and  parallel  with  the  moon's  phases,  all 
this  is  well  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  seashores  and 
seafaring  people.  Likewise  physicians  are  well  aware 
••  that  she  affects  the  humores  of  sick  people,  and  that 
the  fever-days  revolve  parallel  with  the  moon's  course. 
Physical  scholars  know  that  the  life  of  animals  and 
plants  depends  upon  the  moon,  and  experimentalists 
know  that  she  influences  marrow  and  brain,  eggs  and 
the  sediments  of  wine  in  casks  and  jugs,  that  she  excites 
the  minds  of  people  who  sleep  in  full  moonlight,  and 

1  P.  Ehrenreich,  Die  allgemeine  Roscher,  Uber  Selene  und  Ver- 
Mythologie  und  ihre  ethnologischen  wandtes,  Leipzig,  1890,  pp.  1-16, 
Grundlagen,  Leipzig,  1910,  pp.  and  Nachtrdge,  Leipzig,  1895,  pp.  i- 
114-127;  S.  Arrhenius,  "tfberden  19.  For  the  ideas  of  civilized  chil- 
Ursprung  des  Gestirnkultus,"  dren  relating  to  the  moon  see  J.  W. 
Sfitntia,  1911,  ix,  pp.  424  sqq.,  Slaughter,  "The  Moon  in  Child- 
Sir  J.  G.  Frazer,  Adonis,  Attis,  hood  and  Folklore,"  American 
Osiris,3  London,  1914,  ii,  140-150;  Journal  of  Psychology,  1902,  xiii, 
E.  J.  Payne,  History  of  the  New  294-318;  G.  S.  Hall,  "Note  on 
World  called  America,  Oxford,  Moon  Fancies,"  ibid.,  1903,  xiv, 
1892-1899,  i,  547  sqq.;  W.  H.  .88-91. 

124 


.. 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND  FESTIVALS    125 

that  she  affects  (?)  linen  clothes  which  are  exposed  to 
it.  Peasants  know  how  the  moon  acts  upon  fields  of 
cucumbers,  melons,  cotton,  etc.,  and  even  make  the 
times  for  the  various  kinds  of  sowing,  planting,  and 
grafting,  and  for  the  covering  of  the  cattle  depend 
upon  the  course  of  the  moon.  Lastly,  astronomers 
know  that  meteorologic  occurrences  depend  upon  the 
various  phases  through  which  the  moon  passes  in  her 
revolutions."  1  This  succinct  statement,  by  a  learned 
Mohammedan  of  the  eleventh  century,  of  the  reasons 
which  led  early  philosophers  to  attach  a  special  signif- 
icance to  the  moon,  may  well  serve  as  a  text  for  elucida- 
tion and  illustration. 

It  is  a  widespread  and  ancient  belief,  found  among 
peoples  in  all  stages  of  culture,  that  the  lunar  rays  are 
deleterious,  especially  to  little  children.  Some  Brazil- 
ian Indians,  for  instance,  believe  that  the  moon  makes 
babies  ill ;  hence  mothers,  immediately  after  delivery, 
will  hide  themselves  and  their  infants  in  the  thickest 
part  of  the  forest,  in  order  to  prevent  the  moonlight 
from  falling  on  them.2  Yao  boys,  when  undergoing 
initiation  into  manhood,  are  told  to  avoid  not  only  a 
menstruating  woman  but  also  the  sight  of  the  new  moon, 
since  both  are  dangerous.3  Greek  nurses  took  special 
pains  never  to  show  their  charges  to  the  moon.4  In 

1  Albiruni,  India,  translated  by  ganda  mother  believes  that  her  child 
C.  E.  Sachau,  London,  1888,  i,  346  will  grow  strong  and  healthy,  if  it 
sq.     Compare  the  fine  passage  in  is  shown  the  first  new  moon  after 
Apuleius    (Metamorphoses,    xi,    i).  its     birth     (idem,     The     Baganda, 

2  Spix    and    Martius,    Reise    in  London,   1911,  p.    58).     Similarly, 
Brasilien,    Munich,    1823-1831,    i,  it  is  said  that  in  the  island  of  Kiri- 
381,  iii,  1 1 86.  wina,  the  largest  of  the  Trobriand 

3  K.  Weule,  Native  Life  in  East  group  to  the  east  of  New  Guinea,  a 
Africa,  London,  1909,  p.  188.     On  mother  always  presents  her  child 
the    other  hand,   children    of   the  to   the    first   new   moon   after   its 
Bageshu,  a  Bantu  people  of  British  birth,  in  order  that  it  may  grow 
East  Africa,  are  expected  to  take  fast  and  talk  soon  (George  Brown, 
part  in  new-moon  dances,  since  it  is  Melanesians  and  Polynesians,  Lon- 
thought   that   they   derive   benefit  don,  1910,  p.  37). 

from    the    moon    (J.    Roscoe,    in  4  Plutarch,    Qu&stiones    convivi- 

Journal  of  the  Anthropological  In-      ales,  iii,  10,  3. 
stitute,  1909,   xxxix,  193).     A   Ba- 


126  REST  DAYS 

modern  Germany  it  is  an  injunction  of  peasant  folk- 
lore never  to  point  out  the  moon  to  young  children.1 

Moonshine  may  also  be  deemed  injurious  to  adults. 
Certain  Queensland  aborigines  will  not  stare  long  at 
the  moon,  for  by  doing  so  a  heavy  rain  is  likely  to  result.2 
The  Bushmen  of  South  Africa  avoid  looking  at  the 
moon.3  The  Chukchi  of  northeastern  Siberia  believe 
that  a  man  who  looks  too  long  at  the  moon  may  be 
bereft  of  his  wits,  or  may  be  carried  away  altogether. 
The  moon,  think  the  Chukchi,  has  a  lasso  with  which  he 
catches  the  unlucky  starer.4  When  an  English  traveller 
in  Arabia  was  noticed  gazing  at  the  radiant  desert 
moon,  the  Bedouin  said,  "Look  not  so  fixedly  on  him; 
it  is  not  wholesome."  5  The  same  idea  seems  to  have 
found  expression  in  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the 
Psalms :  "The  sun  shall  not  smite  thee  by  day,  nor  the 
moon  by  night."  6  Two  New  Testament  passages 
illustrate  the  belief  that  epilepsy  may  be  caused  by  the 
lunar  rays.7  Similarly,  the  Babylonians  believed  that 
Sin,  the  moon-god,  could  provoke  leprosy,  dropsy, 
and,  above  all,  fever,  which,  like  the  lunar  phases, 
has  its  periods  of  growth,  culmination,  and  decline.8 
Plutarch  refers  to  the  assumed  fact  that  those  who 
sleep  abroad  under  the  beams  of  the  moon  are  not 
easily  wakened,  but  seem  stupid  and  senseless.9  This 
fear  of  the  noxious  influences  of  moonshine  may  be 
traced  from  classical  times  to  the  present  day.  French 
peasants  consider  it  dangerous  to  sleep  in  the  moon- 

1  A.  Wuttke,  Der  deutsche  Folks-  6  C.    M.    Doughty,    Travels    in 
aberglaube  der  Gegenwart?  edited  by      Arabia  Deserta,  Cambridge,    1888, 
E.  H.  Meyer,  Berlin,  1900,  p.  391      i,  444. 

(Oldenburg).  6  Psalms,  cxxi,  6.     Another  Bib- 

2  W.  E.  Roth,  North  Queensland  Heal  passage  (Hosea,  v,  7),  possibly 
Ethnography,  Bulletin,  1903,  no.  5,  referring    to    the    moon,    is    most 
p.  7.  obscure. 

3W.  H.  I.  Bleek  and  Lucy  C.  7  Matthew,  iv,  24,  xvii,  15. ^   The 

Lloyd,  Specimens  of  Bushman  Folk-  Greek  verb  used  here  is  creA.r7via£o/>uu. 

lore,  London,  1911,  pp.  67  sq.  8  E.  Combe,  Histoire  du  culte  de 

4  W.  Bogoras,  in  Memoirs  of  the  Sin    en    Babylonie   et    en    Assyrie, 

American  Museum  of  Natural  His-  Paris,  1908,  pp.  36  sqq. 

tory,  xi,  306.  9  Qucestiones  conviviales,  iii,  10,  3. 


a 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    127 


ight.1  German  peasants  subject  themselves  to  a  long 
list  of  restrictions  :  no  work,  and  especially  no  spin- 
ning, must  be  done  in  the  moonlight,  for  the  spun  yarn 
would  not  hold,  or  the  spinner  would  be  spinning  for 
her  child  a  hangman's  halter  or  the  linen  of  a  shroud ; 
no  waggon  or  tools  should  be  left  exposed  to  the  moon- 
shine, for  they  would  soon  be  broken ;  washed  clothes 
should  not  be  hung  out  to  dry  in  the  moonlight,  for  he 
who  wore  them  would  become  moonstruck ;  one  who 
sews  by  moonlight  sews  his  own  graveclothes ;  water 
from  a  spring  or  well  in  which  the  moon  shines  should 
not  be  drunk,  since  this  would  be  to  absorb  the  evil 
influences  of  the  moon ;  one  should  never  look  long 
at  the  moon,  under  penalty  of  getting  a  goitre ;  the 
lunar  rays  should  never  penetrate  into  the  kitchen, 
or  otherwise  the  maid  would  break  many  dishes.2 
So  numerous,  indeed,  are  these  lunar  superstitions 
that  throughout  Germany  Monday,  as  partaking  of 
the  qualities  of  the  moon  from  which  it  is  named,  is 
generally  an  unlucky  day.3  In  various  parts  of  the 
United  States  the  belief  prevails  that  it  is  dangerous 
to  sleep  with  the  moon  shining  on  the  face.  If  fish 
are  exposed  to  moonshine,  they  will  spoil.4 

Various  peoples  have  noticed  that  monthly  peri- 
odicity belongs  to  women  and  moon  alike,  and,  join- 
ing these  observations,  have  supposed  that  the  lunar 
changes  cause  menstruation,  or  that  the  first  appear- 
ance of  the  menses  is  the  result  of  defloration  induced 
by  the  moon.  As  a  natural  outcome  of  such  beliefs 
the  moon  is  credited  with  the  power  of  impregnation 
and  is  associated  with  childbirth.5  Such  superstitions 

1  P.     Sebillot,     Le    folk-lore    de  4  Fanny     D.     Bergen,     Current 
France,  Paris,  1904-1907,  i,  45.  Superstitions,     Boston,     1896,     p. 

2  Wuttke-Meyer,  op.  cit.,  p.  301.  120. 

3  Ibid.,    p.    59.      In    Voigtland,  B  For  the  belief  that  impregna- 
central  Germany,   the   assaults  of  tion  can  be  accomplished  by  the 
witches  are  especially  looked  for  and  sun,  see  Sir  J.  G.   Frazer,  Balder 
dreaded    on    Mondays    (R.    Eisel,  the    Beautiful,    London,     1913,    i, 
Sagenbuch   des    Voigtlandes,    Gera,  74  sqq. 

1871,  p.  210). 


128  REST  DAYS 

are  widespread.  In  the  native  legends  of  the  Euahlayi, 
a  tribe  of  New  South  Wales,  Bahloo,  the  moon,  is  a 
very  important  personage.  He  it  is  who  creates  the 
girl  babies.  Euahlayi  mothers  are  very  careful  not  to 
look  at  the  full  moon  or  to  let  their  babies  do  so,  for 
an  attack  of  thrush,  an  affection  common  in  newly 
born  children,  would  be  the  result.  Bahloo  has  also 
a  spiteful  way  of  punishing  a  woman  who  stares  at 
him  by  sending  to  her  the  dreaded  twins.1  In  Saibai 
and  Yam,  two  islands  in  Torres  Straits,  it  is  believed 
that  the  moon,  in  the  shape  of  a  man,  embraces  a  girl 
when  she  is  full-grown,  and  that  the  halo  around  the 
moon  represents  her  blood.  This  story  is  also  told  on 
the  neighbouring  coast  of  British  New  Guinea.2  Here, 
as  well  as  in  some  parts  of  Melanesia,  natives  ascribe 
menstruation  to  the  moon.3  The  Tuhoe,  a  Maori 
tribe,  believe  that  the  moon  is  the  permanent  (or  true) 
husband  of  all  women,  because  the  latter  menstruate 
when  the  moon  appears.  "  According  to  the  knowledge 
of  our  ancestors  and  elders,"  say  the  Tuhoe,  "the 
marriage  of  man  and  wife  is  a  matter  of  no  moment, 
the  moon  is  the  real  husband."  And  the  women  them- 
selves, on  seeing  the  new  moon,  say,  "The  tane  (hus- 
band) of  all  women  in  the  world  has  appeared."  4  The 
Jaluo,  a  tribe  of  Nilotic  stock  living  in  the  district  of 
Kavirondo,  British  East  Africa,  ascribe  menstruation 
to  the  influence  of  the  new  moon  and  believe  that 
women  can  become  pregnant  only  at  this  time.5  The 

1  Mrs. K.  L.  Parker,  The  Euahlayi  xxxii,    303    sq.    (Sinaugolo    of  the 
Tribe,  London,  1905,  pp.  50,  64,  98.  Rigo    District) ;     E.     Beardmore, 

2  C.  G.  Seligmann,  in  Reports  of  ibid.,  1890,  xix,  460  (Mawatta  of 
the  Cambridge  Anthropological  Ex-  the  Daudai  District) ;  A.  Baessler, 
pedition  to  Torres  Straits,  v,  206  sq.  Neue  Sudsee  Bilder,  Berlin,   1900, 
The   word    for   moon,   ganumi,    is  p.  383  (Santa  Cruz  Islands), 
sometimes  used  as  a  synonym  of  4  E.  Best,  "Notes  on  Procreation 
nanamud,  the  proper  expression  for  among  the  Maori  People  of  New 
menstrual  blood  (ibid.).     Compare  Zealand,"  Journal  of  the  Polynesian 
A.  Hunt,  in  Journal  of  the  Anthro-  Society,  1905,  xiv,  210  sq. 
pological  Institute,  1899,  xxviii,  u.  5  C.  W.   Hobley,  in  Journal  of 

3  C.  G.  Seligmann,  in  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  1903, 
the  Anthropological  Institute,   1902,  xxxiii,  358. 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND  FESTIVALS    129 

Uganda  suppose  that  menstruation  is  caused  by  the 
moon,  either  when  new  or  waning.1  Similar  beliefs 
are  entertained  by  the  negroes  of  the  western  Sudan, 
who  commonly  give  to  this  female  function  the  name 
of  the  moon.2  The  Greenlanders  believe  that  the 
moon,  conceived  as  a  masculine  divinity,  possesses  the 
power  of  impregnation ;  as  a  consequence  young  girls 
are  afraid  to  look  long  at  this  luminary,  "imagining 
they  might  get  a  child  by  the  bargain."  3  The  Lengua 
Indians  of  the  Paraguayan  Chaco  associate  the  moon 
with  marriage.  Young  girls  will  address  the  moon 
with  the  appeal  "Moon,  moon,  I  want  to  get  married."  4 
Indian  women  in  Peru  are  said  to  have  prayed  to  the 
moon  to  give  them  an  easy  delivery.5  In  old  Egyptian 
belief  the  moon  was  supposed  to  make  women  fruitful, 
and  the  waxing  moon  to  develop  the  germ  in  the 
mother's  body.6  The  association  of  human  fertility 
with  the  moon  may  perhaps  explain  why  Ishtar,  the 
mother-goddess  of  Babylonian  mythology,  came  to 
be  regarded  as  a  daughter  of  Sin,  the  moon-god.  In 
this  capacity  she  presided  over  childbirth.7  The  Ira- 
nian peoples  supposed  that  the  moon  contained  a  bull 
whose  semen  was  another  form  of  haoma,  the  intoxicat- 
ing decoction  of  the  moon-plant.8  The  position  of 

1  J.  Roscoe,  t'&tV/.,  1901,  xxxi,  121.  Osiris,  a  god  often  identified  with 

2  Thomas     Winterbottom,     An  the    moon,    was    supposed    to    be 
Account  of  the  Native  Africans  in  the  born  of  a  virgin  cow  impregnated 
Neighbourhood    of    Sierra     Leone,  by   a   divine   influence   emanating 
London,  1803,  ii,  206  (Mandingo,  from   the   moon    (Plutarch,   Qucss- 
Susu,  etc.).  tiones  conviviales,  viii,  I,  3 ;    idem, 

3  Hans  Egede,  A  Description  of  De  hide  et  Osiride,  43).     On  the 
Greenland,  London,  1745,  p.  205.  discovery  of  an  Apis  the  Egyptians 

4  W.    B.   Grubb,   An    Unknown  kept  a  holiday  (Herodotus,  iii,  28). 
People     in     an     Unknown     Land,  1  W.  H.  Roscher,  "Aphrodite," 
London,  1911,  p.  139.  in  Roscher's  Ausfilhrliches  Lexikon 

6  P.  J.  de  Arriaga,  Extirpacion  der     griechischen     und     romischen 

de  la  idolatria  del  Piru,  Lima,  1621,  Mythologie,  i,  coll.  390  sq. 

p.  32.  8  L.    H.   Gray,  in   Spiegel   Me- 

6  H.  Brugsch,  Religion  und^  My-  morial    Volume,     Bombay,      1908, 

thologie  der  alien  Agypter,  Leipzig,  pp.  160-168.       Raka  and  Sinivali, 

1885,    p.    335.     The    sacred    bull  two  of  the  Vedic  goddesses  identi- 

Apis,    which    the    Egyptians     re-  fied  with  the  lunar  phases,  seem  to 

garded  as  an  image  of  the  soul  of  have   been   associated   with  child- 


130  REST  DAYS 

Hera  as  a  goddess  of  marriage  and  childbirth  has  been 
explained  by  the  assumption  that  she  played  an  ancient 
role  as  a  moon-deity.  Artemis,  with  whom  Selene, 
or  the  divine  personification  of  the  moon,  came  to 
be  identified,  was  regularly  associated  with  childbirth. 
The  Roman  Juno  was  connected  with  the  moon  as 
Juno-Lucina,  it  being  held  that  she  aided  women 
during  confinement.  Ancient  mythologers  found  it 
easy  to  identify  the  Italian  Diana,  originally  a  goddess 
who  looked  after  women  in  their  time  of  peril,  with 
the  Greek  Artemis,  who  had  the  same  functions.1 
Modern  French  folklore  still  contains  references  to 
the  idea  that  the  moon  can  cause  impregnation ;  in 
Basse-Bretagne,  for  example,  it  is  thought  that  a  young 
woman  who  exposes  her  person  to  the  lunar  rays  may 
conceive  and  bear  a  child.2 

The  influence  of  the  moon  on  the  tides  furnishes 
another  element  of  mystery  in  the  lunar  phenomena. 
So  primitive  a  people  as  the  Andaman  Islanders  habit- 
ually refer  tidal  movements  to  the  action  of  the  moon ; 
and  the  same  connection  between  things  lunar  and 
things  terrestrial  has  been  recognized  by  other  peoples, 
such  as  the  Hawaiians,  the  ancient  Babylonians,  and 
the  modern  Chinese.3  That  changes  in  the  moon  are 
associated  with  weather  changes  as  cause  and  effect 
is  an  ancient  superstition  not  yet  obsolete  in  rural 
communities.4 

Comparative  studies  have  shown  how  very  general 

birth  (Rig-Veda,  i\,  32-,  transl.  H.  337;  Sheldon  Dibble,  History  of  the 

Grassmann,  i,  41).  Sandwich     Islands,     Lahainaluna, 

1  Plutarch,  Quastiones conviviales,  1843,  p.  109;    N.  B.  Dennys,  The 
iiiy    10,   3 ;     idem,   Qucestiones   Ro-  Folk-lore  of  China,  London,   1876, 
mancz,    77.     See    further,    W.    H.  p.  118;    M.  Jastrow,  The  Religion 
Roscher,  Juno  und  Hera,  Leipzig,  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  Boston, 
1875,  PP-  40-59;    idem,  Uber  Selene  1898,  p.  358. 

und  Verwandtes,  pp.  55-61 ;    idem,  4  H.  A.  Hazen,  "The  Origin  and 

"Mondgottin,"  Ausfiihrliches  Lexi-  Value  of  Weather  Lore,"  Journal  of 

con  der  griechischen  und  romischen  American  Folk-lore,  1900,  xiii,  191- 

Mythologie,  ii,  coll.  3150  sqq.  198;    E.   G.   Dexter,   Weather  In- 

2  Sebillot,  op.  cit.,  i,  41.  fluences,  New  York,  1904,  pp.  10- 

3  E.  H.  Man,  in  Journal  of  the  26. 
Anthropological  Institute,  1883,  xii, 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    131 

is  the  belief  that  the  moon  exerts  great  influence  on 
growth,  particularly  on  the  growth  of  vegetation,  and 
on  all  human  life  and  activity.1  For  this  opinion  there 
appear  to  have  been  two  principal  causes.  Observa- 
tion showed  that  moisture  in  the  air  and  soil  are  favour- 
able to  organic  growth  and,  further,  that  atmospheric 
moisture  is  greater  at  night  than  during  the  day.  It 
was  reasonable  to  suppose  the  moon  itself  to  be  the 
source  of  dew  and  moisture,  especially  when  it  was 
also  noticed  that  the  dew  is  heaviest  on  cloudless 
nights.  These  beliefs  were  entertained  by  the  ancients, 
who  attributed  heat  to  the  sun,  but  moisture  to  the 
moon.2 

Another  fallacy  has  had  an  even  greater  part  in 
generating  these  lunar  fancies.  The  apparent  growth 
of  the  moon  in  the  first  half  of  the  lunation  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  ripening  of  plants  and  fruits,  the  increase 
of  animals,  and  hence  with  the  prosperous  issue  of 
human  undertakings.  From  this  doctrine  of  lunar 
sympathy  have  arisen  numerous  rules  for  the  guidance 
of  shepherds  and  husbandmen,  which  had  a  wide  prev- 
alence in  antiquity  and  still  survive  with  almost  un- 
diminished  vigour  among  the  superstitious  classes  of 
to-day.3 

The  doctrine  of  lunar  sympathy,  by  a  natural  ex- 
tension, may  also  account  for  the  common  belief  that 
"the  same  things  which  grow  with  the  waxing,  dwindle 
with  the  waning,  moon,"  4  and  therefore  that  all  busi- 

1  Payne,    op.    cit.,    i,    547    sq. ;  possibly  embody  a  like  conception 
Sir  E.  B.  Tylor,  Primitive  Culture,*  is  Deuteronomy,  xxxiii,   14:    "and 
London,  1903,  i,  130;  W.  G.  Black,  for  the  precious  things  put  forth  by 
Folk-medicine,   London,    1883,   pp.  the  moon/'     See  W.  von  Baudissin, 
124  sqq.;   A.  E.  Crawley,  "Dew,"  Jahve et  Moloch,  Leipzig,  1874,  p.  24. 
Hastings's  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  3  For     many     illustrations     see 
and  Ethics,  ^,.698-701.  Frazer,    Adonis,   Attis,   Osiris?   ii, 

2  Roscher,  Uber  Selene  und  Ver-  131     sqq.;      J.     Grimm,     Teutonic 
wandtes,  pp.  49  sqq.,  61-67.     The  Mythology,  London,  1883,  ii,  708- 
New  Zealanders   believed   that   it  716. 

was  in  the  night  that  everything  4  Gellius,  Noctes  Attica,  xx,   8 : 

grew  (R.  Taylor,  Te  Ika  A  Maui,  Eadem    autem    ipsa,    quce   crescente 

London,  1855,  p.  175).     The  single  luna      gliscunt,      deficiente      contra 

Old  Testament  passage  which  may  defiunt. 


132  REST  DAYS 

ness  done  in  the  latter  half  of  a  lunation  is  doomed  to 
failure.  The  Toda  appear  to  regard  the  first  half  of 
the  month  as  the  auspicious  time  for  their  numerous 
ceremonies.  "I  met  with  no  case,"  says  Dr.  Rivers, 
"in  which  any  ceremony  was  appointed  for  the  period 
of  the  full  moon  or  for  the  second  half  of  the  moon's 
period."  1  The  Andaman  Islanders  abstain,  from  work 
during  the  first  few  evenings  of  the  third  quarter  of 
the  moon.2  The  Buriat  are  said  never  to  undertake 
anything  of  importance  between  the  full  and  the  new 
moon.3  The  Tatars,  according  to  the  account  of  an 
Italian  friar  who  in  the  thirteenth  century  made  an 
adventurous  journey  to  Mongolia,  began  any  new 
enterprise  "at  new  moon,  or  when  the  moon  is  full."  4 
The  Mandingo  paid  great  attention  to  the  changes  of 
the  moon  and  thought  it  "very  unlucky  to  begin  a 
journey  or  any  other  work  of  consequence  in  the  last 
quarter."  5  Of  the  Sudanese  negroes,  generally,  it 
is  said  that  they  are  much  influenced  in  their  under- 
takings by  the  appearance  of  the  new  moon.  For 
instance,  a  journey  which  has  been  decided  upon  dur- 
ing the  last  quarter  of  the  moon  is  always  postponed 
until  the  new  moon.  No  chief  would  presume  to  lead 
out  his  tribesmen  on  a  war  party  before  the  appearance 
of  the  crescent.6  The  Nandi  celebrate  their  very 
important  circumcision  festival,  as  well  as  all  mar- 
riage ceremonies,  during  the  waxing  moon,  but  per- 
form their  mourning  rites  during  the  waning  moon.7 
The  Hova  and  other  tribes  of  Madagascar  regard  the 
waning  of  the  moon  as  "an  unfavourable  time  for  any 

1  TheTodas,London,  1906, p. 411.  R.  Hakluyt,  The  Principal  Naviga- 

2  E.  H.  Man,  in  Journal  of  the  tions,  Traffiques,  and  Discoveries  of 
Anthropological  Institute,  1883,  xii,  the    English    Nation,     i,     141     sq. 
152  sq.     It  is  also  said  of  the  An-  (Glasgow  reprint,  1903-1905). 
damanese   that   they  do  no  work,  8  Mungo    Park,    Travels   in   the 
except  what  is  noiseless,  between  Interior  Districts  of  Africa,  London, 
dawn  and  sunrise  (ibid.).  1816,  i,  266. 

3  Peter  Dobell,  Travels  in  Kam-  6  L.    G.    Binger,    Du    Niger   au 
tchatka  and  Siberia,  London,  1830,  golfede  Guinee,  Paris,  1892,  ii,  116. 
ii,  1 6.  7A.  C.  Hollis,  The  Nandi,  Ox- 

4  Joannes  de   Piano   Carpini,  in  ford,  1908,  pp.  52,  60,  71. 


«H 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND  FESTIVALS    133 

important  undertaking."  1  Similar  beliefs  were  enter- 
tained by  the  early  Germans,  who,  according  to  Caesar, 
despaired  of  victory  if  they  engaged  in  battle  before 
the  new  moon.2  Tacitus,  with  fuller  knowledge,  de- 
clares that  the  Germans  considered  the  new  moon  and 
the  full  moon  as  the  most  auspicious  seasons  for  begin- 
ning any  enterprise.3  This  superstition  seems  still  to 
linger  in  some  districts  of  Germany,  where  it  is  com- 
monly held  that  any  work  begun  when  the  moon  is  on 
the  increase  is  sure  to  succeed,  and  that  the  full  moon 
brings  everything  to  perfection ;  whereas  business 
undertaken  during  the  waning  moon  is  doomed  to 
failure.4  A  like  belief  was  that  of  the  Scottish  High- 
landers, to  whom  the  moon  in  her  increase,  full  growth, 
and  wane  was  "the  emblem  of  a  rising,  flourishing,  and 
declining  fortune.  At  the  last  period  of  her  revolution 
they  carefully  avoid  to  engage  in  any  business  of  im- 
portance ;  but  the  first  and  the  middle  they  seize  with 
avidity,  presaging  the  most  auspicious  issue  to  their 
undertakings."  5  On  the  other  hand  the  people  of 


1  J.  Sibree,  "Malagasy  Folk-lore 
and  Popular  Superstitions,"  Folk- 
lore Record,  1879,  ii,  32. 

2  De  bello  Gallico,  i,  50. 

3  Germania,    1 1 .     The    rule    of 
the  Spartans  never  to  march  out  to 
war  before  the  full  moon  (Herodo- 
tus, vi,  106;    Pausanias,  i,  28,  4) 
prevented  them  from  sending  aid 
to  the  Athenians  at  the  time  of  the 
battle  of  Marathon.     Though  the 
Spartans    always    knew    how    to 
make  use  of  their  religious  scruples, 
during  their   festivals   they   really 
did    ostentatiously    abstain    from 
expeditions  which  might  have  been 
profitable  to  them.     See  A.  Holm, 
History  of  Greece,  London,  1895,  ii, 
26,  referring  to  Thucydides,  iv,  5, 

v,  75- 

4  Kuhn     and     Schwartz,     Nord- 
deutsche  Sagen,  Mdrchen,  und  Ge- 
brduche,  Leipzig,  1848,  p.  457. 

5  The  Rev.  John  Grant,  in  Sir 


John  Sinclair's  The  Statistical  Ac- 
count of  Scotland,  Edinburgh,  1794, 
xii,  457.  See  also  Charles  Rogers, 
Familiar  Illustrations  of  Scottish 
Character?  London,  1865,  p.  172 
(as  to  Orkney).  In  the  Calendar 
of  Coligny,  the  most  important  of 
the  Celtic  inscriptions  of  ancient 
Gaul,  the  lunation  is  divided  into 
two  parts  by  the  full  moon,  and 
nearly  all  the  important  activities 
of  the  month  are  crowded  into  the 
first  fortnight,  apparently  because 
of  the  ill  luck  associated  with  a 
waning  moon.  See  Sir  John  Rhys, 
"The  Coligny  Calendar,"  Proceed- 
ings of  the  British  Academy,  1909- 
1910,  pp.  221,  265.  It  has  been 
pointed  out  that  most  of  the  Greek 
festivals  known  to  us  fell  in  the 
first  half  of  the  month,  and  espe- 
cially on  the  twelfth  day.  "Zu- 
grunde  liegt  die  weit  verbreitete 
Vorstellung,  dass  alles,  was  gedei- 


134  REST  DAYS 

Thermia  (Kythnos),  one  of  the  Cyclades,  believe  that 
you  should  never  do  any  work,  if  you  can  help  it,  on 
the  days  preceding  full  moon,  while  for  grafting,  plant- 
ing, cutting  trees,  and  bleaching  clothes  those  days  are 
best  which  follow  the  full  moon.1  And  an  English 
antiquarian  of  the  seventeenth  century  declares  that, 
according  to  the  rules  of  astrology,  "it  is  not  good  to 
undertake  any  business  of  importance  in  the  new  of 
the  moon  ;  and  not  better  just  at  the  full  of  the  moon  ; 
but  worst  of  all  in  an  eclipse."  2 

Eclipses  of  the  moon  are  sometimes  considered  un- 
favourable for  work,  and  may  also  be  accompanied  by 
fasting  and  other  forms  of  abstinence.  During  such 
times  of  uncanny  and  terrifying  darkness  it  is  thought 
to  be  wise  to  avoid  every  sort  of  activity,  as  well  as 
the  consumption  of  food  which  may  be  tainted  with 
mysterious  evil.3  Among  the  Wasania,  a  tribe  of 
British  East  Africa,  no  cohabitation  takes  place  during 
an  eclipse.4  Lunar  and  solar  eclipses  are  among  the 
phenomena  which  require  a  Naga  community  to  de- 
clare a  genna  and  give  up  its  ordinary  occupations.5 
When  the  Toda  know  that  an  eclipse  is  about  to  occur, 
they  abstain  from  meat  and  drink ;  when  it  is  over, 
they  have  a  feast  and  eat  a  special  food  prepared  on 
all  ceremonial  occasions.6  In  southern  India  it  is  a 
common  custom,  when  an  eclipse  occurs,  for  the  people 
to  retire  into  their  houses  and  remain  behind  closed 
doors.  "The  time  is  in  all  respects  inauspicious,  and 
no  work  begun  or  completed  during  this  period  can 
meet  with  success ;  indeed,  so  great  is  the  dread,  that 

hen  und  zunehmen  soli,  wahrend  to  eclipses,  generally,  see  R.  Lasch, 

des   zunehmenden   Mondes   vorge-  "  Die  Finsternisse  in  der  Mythologie 

nommen  werden  soil"  (M.  P.  Nils-  und     im     religiosen     Brauch     der 

son  in  Archiv  fur  Religionswissen-  Volker,"  Archivfur  Religionswissen- 

schaft,  1911,  xiv,  441  sq.).  schaft,  1900,  Hi,  97-152. 

1  J.  T.  Bent,  The  Cyclades,  Lon-  4  W.  E.  H.  Barrett,  in  Journal 
don,  1885,  p.  438.  of    the     Anthropological     Institute, 

2  John     Aubrey,     Remaines     of  1911,  xli,  35. 

Gentilisme  and  Judaisme,  edited  by  5  Hodson,  Ndga  Tribes,  pp.  166 

J.  Britten,  London,  1881,  p.  85.  sq.     See  above,  pp.  50  sq. 

3  On  the  superstitions  attaching  6  Rivers,  op.  cit.,  pp.  580,  592. 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    135 


o  one  would  think  of  initiating  any  important  work 
at  this  time."  1  The  natives  of  northern  India  are 
said  to  consider  it  a  great  crime  to  partake  of  food, 
drink  water,  or  answer  the  calls  of  nature  during  an 
eclipse.2  Such  a  period  is  considered  most  unlucky  for 
commencing  any  business  of  importance.  A  pregnant 
woman  will  do  no  work  during  an  eclipse,  as  otherwise 
her  child  would  be  deformed.  Among  high-caste 
Hindus  no  food  which  has  been  in  the  house  during 
an  eclipse  of  the  sun  or  the  moon  may  be  eaten.  It 
must  be  given  away,  and  all  earthen  vessels  in  use  in 
the  house  at  the  time  must  be  broken.3  The  Chinese 
formerly  observed  lunar  eclipses  by  a  general  suspen- 
sion of  business.4  The  fatal  delay  which  led  to  the 
destruction  of  the  Athenian  fleet  and  army  before 
Syracuse  was  the  result  of  a  lunar  eclipse,  as  interpreted 
by  the  soothsayers  and  the  incompetent,  superstitious 
Nicias.5  Among  the  Jews  there  were  formerly  many 
who  abstained  from  food  on  the  day  of  an  eclipse  of  the 
moon,  a  portent  which  they  regarded  as  evil.6  This 
belief,  as  has  been  noted,  prevailed  in  England  at  least 
as  late  as  the  seventeenth  century.7 

1  Madras    Weekly    Mail,     I5th  4  John  Barrow,  Travels  in  China, 
October,    1908,   quoted   by   Edgar  London,  1804,  p.  287. 
Thurston,  Omens  and  Superstitions  6  Thucydides,  vii,  50 ;  Plutarch, 
of    Southern    India,    London    and  Nicias,  23. 

Leipzig,  1912,  p.  44.  6  J.  Buxtorf,  Synagoga  Judaica,3 

2  R.  G.  Chaube,  "Some  of  the  Basel,  1680,  p.  477:  Defectum  luncs 
Most  Popular  Beliefs   and   Super-  pro    pessimo    habent    signo,    quod 
stitions  of  the  Hindus  of  North-  aliquid     mali     et     inauspicati     ab 
ern  India/*  Journal  of  the  Anthro-  hostibus  et  inimicis  suis  portendat. 
pological    Society    of    Bombay,    v,  Ideo    ejusmodi    die    animas    vulgo 
326.  jejunio  affligunt  et  ab  hostibus  suis 

3  W.  Crooke,  The  Popular  Reli-  a  Deo  defendi  postulant. 

gion    and     Folk-lore    of    Northern  7  Above,  p.  134.     During  a  solar 

India,2      Westminster,      1896,      i,  eclipse    Swabian    peasants    totally 

21  sqq. ;    compare  idem,  Natives  of  abandon    their    usual    occupations 

Northern     India,     London,     1907,  and   shut   up   their   cattle   in   the 

p.    203.     See    also    H.    G.    Rose,  stalls     (A.     Birlinger,    Folksthum- 

"  Hindu  Pregnancy  Observances  in  liches    aus    Schwaben,    Freiburg-i.- 

the  Punjab,"  Journal  of  the  Anthro-  B.,   1861-1862,  i,   189).     In  Ober- 

pological     Institute,     1905,     xxxv,  Pfalz  and  Bohemia  at  such  a  time 

277  sq.  it  is  believed  to  be  dangerous  to 


136  REST  DAYS 

Various  peoples  have  supposed  that  the  moon,  dur- 
ing the  period  of  her  invisibility,  descends  to  the  under- 
world. This  conception  has  played  a  noteworthy  part 
in  generating  superstitions  concerning  tabooed  and 
unlucky  days.  The  Akamba,  a  tribe  of  British  East 
Africa,  believe  that  on  the  day  which  completes  the 
month  no  child  is  born  and  no  domestic  animal  gives 
birth.  One  of  the  Akamba  clans  is  called  mu-mwei 
(mwei  signifying  moon),  and  by  the  members  of  this 
clan  no  house  may  be  swept  on  the  last  day  of  the 
month.1  The  Akikuyu,  a  tribe  related  to  the  Akamba, 
regard  the  moon  as  the  sun's  wife,  and  suppose  that 
when  the  moon  comes  to  maturity  the  sun  fights  with 
her  and  kills  her.  While  she  is  "dead,"  as  the  natives 
say,  no  journeys  are  undertaken,  no  sacrifices  are 
offered,  and  no  sheep  are  killed.  It  is  further  consid- 
ered that  goats  and  sheep  will  not  bear  on  the  day 
after  the  disappearance  of  the  moon.2  The  Wagiriama 
keep  as  Sabbaths  the  odd  days  at  the  end  of  the  month, 
before  the  appearance  of  the  new  moon.3  Some  tribes 
of  equatorial  Africa  believe  that  the  new  moon  is  espe- 
cially ill-humoured  and  hungry  on  the  day  when  she 
emerges  from  darkness.  "She  looks  down  over  our 
country,"  the  natives  declare,  "and  seeks  whom  she 
can  devour,  and  we  poor  black  men  are  very  much 
afraid  of  her  on  that  account,  and  we  hide  ourselves 
from  her  sight  on  that  night."  People  who  die  be- 
tween new  and  full  moon  are  said  to  be  those  whom  the 
new  moon  saw  at  this  fateful  time,  in  spite  of  all  the 
precautions  they  took.4  The  missionary,  David  Liv- 

'VJTf  ' 

eat  anything  or  even  to  go  outside  3  W.  W.  A.  Fitzgerald,  Travels  in 

the  house,  unless  one's  mouth  is  the     Coastlands     of    British     East 

securely     covered     with     a     cloth  Africa,  London,  1898,  p.  in,  quot- 

(Wuttke-Meyer,  op.  cit.,  p.  302).  ing  W.   E.  Taylor,    Vocabulary  of 

1 C.   W.    Hobley,    Ethnology   of  the    Giryama    Language,    London, 

A-Kamba   and  other  East  African  1897.     The  name  of  these  rest  days 

Tribes,  Cambridge,  1910,  p.  53.  — jumwa  —  is  Arabic;    see  above, 

2  W.    S.    Routledge   and    Kath-  p.  107  n.z 

erine     Routledge,     With     a    Pre-  4  P.  B.  Du  Chaillu,  In  African 

historic   People,   London,    1910,   p.  Forest  and  Jungle,  New  York,  1903, 

284.  pp.  96  sq. 


• 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    137 

ingstone,  while  sojourning  at  Lake  Nyassa,  discovered 
that  the  natives  in  this  region  regarded  the  interlunium 
as  distinctly  unlucky.  On  one  occasion  his  men  de- 
layed an  expedition  till  they  had  seen  the  new  moon. 
We  must  have  the  new  moon,  they  said,  for  a  lucky 
starting.1  The  "dark  day"  of  the  moon  was  consid- 
ered by  the  Zulu  as  inauspicious  for  engaging  in  battle.2 
A  superstitious  attitude  toward  the  interlunium 
appears  to  be  very  prevalent  among  the  Dravidian 
peoples  of  India.  The  Kanarese  of  Hyderabad  and 
Mysore  do  not  work  in  the  fields  on  the  last  day  of 
the  month.  If  a  child  is  born  at  this  time,  they  believe 
that  some  one1  in  the  family  will  die.  If  a  cow  or  a 
buffalo  has  a  calf  at  such  a  time,  it  must  be  sold.  On 
the  evening  before  new  moon  no  one  may  eat  cooked 
food.  The  new  moon  is  consecrated  to  the  dead.3 
The  Saoria  of  the  Rajmahal  Hills,  who  regard  Sunday 
as  unlucky  and  do  not  work  in  the  fields,  pay  visits, 
or  get  married  on  this  day,  observe  much  the  same 
restrictions  during  the  period  of  the  moon's  invisi- 
bility. Marriages  will  not  be  fruitful  if  consummated 
during  the  dark  of  the  moon,  and  in  general  the  time 
is  associated  with  bad  luck  and  sickness.4  The  same 
belief  is  found  elsewhere  in  northern  India,  sometimes 
with  beneficial  results,  as  appears  from  the  following 
description,  which  applies  to  the  district  of  Rohtak. 
" To-day  (29th  November,  1883),  in  passing  through 
the  Jat  and  Ahir  villages  in  Rohtak,  I  noticed  that  no 
work  was  being  done  at  the  wells  or  in  the  fields,  and 
that  the  peasants,  usually  so  hard  at  work,  were  idling 

1  Horace  Waller,  editor,  The  Last  moon  day,  her  milk,  it  is  believed, 
Journals   of  David  Livingstone   in  will  kill  the  owner  (P.   Kershasp, 
Central  Africa,   New  York,    1875,  "Some      Superstitions      prevailing 
p.  275.  among  the  Canarese-speaking  Peo- 

2  J.  Y.  Gibson,  The  Story  of  the  pie  of  Southern  India,"  Journal  of 
Zulus,  London,  1911,  p.  175.  the  Anthropological  Society  of  Bom- 

3  Gengnagel,  "Volksglaube  und  bay,  vii,  84). 

Wahrsagerei     an     der     Westkiiste  4  R.  B.  Bainbridge,  in  Memoirs 

Indiens,"     Ausland,     1891,     Ixiv,  of  the   Asiatic   Society   of  Bengal , 

871  sq.     Another  observer  declares  1907,  ii,  50. 
that  if  a  cow  calves  on  the  new- 


138  REST  DAYS 

in  the  village  instead.  On  inquiring  the  reason,  I 
was  told  that  to-day  was  the  amawas,  the  last  day  of 
the  moon,  and  that  on  this  day  of  the  month  the  bul- 
locks are  always  given  a  rest.  The  men  themselves 
do  any  work  that  is  to  be  done  without  using  the  cattle, 
but  no  one  yokes  his  bullocks  in  the  plough  or  at 
the  well,  or,  if  he  can  help  it,  in  the  cart.  I  noticed 
that  some  of  the  peasants  were  busy  making  thorn- 
fences,  or  doing  other  light  work,  but  no  bullocks  were 
at  work  anywhere,  and  as  there  is  little  to  be  done  at 
this  season  without  their  help,  the  custom  practically 
gave  the  men  a  rest  also,  and  the  unusual  idleness  gave 
the  villages  a  sort  of  Sunday  look.  The  bullocks  are 
given  this  rest  once  a  month,  on  the  last  day  of  the 
moon,  and  also  on  the  makar  kd  sankrant,  which  comes 
about  January,  when  the  sun  enters  into  the  sign  of 
Capricorn  (makar),  and  on  the  diwdli  and  gordhan 
(the  day  after  the  diwdli)  in  the  middle  of  Kartik 
(October).  Except  on  these  fifteen  days  it  is  lawful 
for  a  man  to  yoke  his  cattle  on  all  other  days  of  the 
year,  but  these  particular  days  are  strictly  a  Sabbath 
for  the  cattle,  and  no  one  thinks  of  yoking  them  on 
these  days.  If  any  one  did,  it  would  be  a  sin  (pap), 
and  his  fellows  would  at  once  stop  him.  There  is  no 
such  Sabbath  for  man,  and  it  is  not  thought  wrong 
(pap)  for  a  man  to  work  on  any  day  of  the  year,  though, 
of  course,  there  are  many  holidays  (teohdr),  on  which 
little  work  is  done."  * 

These  superstitions  relating  to  the  dark  of  the  moon 
have  not  been  confined  to  the  natives  of  Africa  and  the 
aborigines  of  India.  They  meet  us  among  peoples 
of  archaic  civilization  and  they  survive  among  the 
peasantry  of  European  lands.  To  the  Babylonians, 
who  paid  particular  attention  to  all  lunar  phenomena, 
the  disappearance  of  the  moon  at  the  end  of  the  month 
occasioned  much  anxiety.  The  day  when  the  moon 
could  no  longer  be  seen  in  the  heavens  was  called  the 

1  J.  Wilson,  in  Indian  Antiquary,  1897,  xxvi,  308  (from  Punjab  Notes 
and  Queries,  1883). 


LUNA: 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    139 

day  of  sorrow"  (um  bubbuli,  literally,  the  "day  of  the 
snatching  away").  The  absence  of  the  moon  was 
reckoned  at  three  days,  and  during  this  time  prayers 
were  recited  and  solemn  expiatory  rites  were  prescribed, 
primarily  for  the  king,  who,  as  the  representative  of 
his  people,  had  to  take  special  care  not  to  provoke  the 
gods  to  anger  at  so  critical  a  season.  We  still  have 
one  of  the  prayers  recited  by  the  ruler  in  his  sanctuary 
and  addressed  to  the  moon-god  Sin.  The  thirtieth 
day  of  the  month  is  here  described  as  the  god's  "holy 
day"  or  "festival."  The  prayer  concludes  with  an 
allusion  to  an  eclipse,  from  which  it  appears  that  the 
Babylonians,  knowing  neither  the  cause  nor  nature  of 
such  a  phenomenon,  supposed  that,  unless  the  gods 
were  pacified  during  the  moon's  temporary  obscura- 
tion, there  would  follow  the  more  terrifying  portent 
of  an  eclipse.1  Modern  Arabs  consider  the  last  day 
or  last  three  days  of  the  month  to  be  unfavourable  for 
any  sort  of  undertaking.2  By  the  Athenians  these 
three  days  were  called  dcrcXti/ot,  because  on  them  the 
moonlight  was  extinguished.  They  were  classed  with 
the  other  unlucky  days  (a7ro<£/oaSes  ypepai)  of  popu- 
lar superstition.  During  the  dcre\ij>oi  it  was  neces- 
sary to  sacrifice  to  the  underworld  gods  in  order  to 
avoid  their  anger.3  Selene  at  this  time  was  supposed 

1  M.   Jastrow,   Aspects   of  Reli-  Dictionnaire  des  antiquites  grecques 

gious  Belief  and  Practice  in  Baby-  et  romaines,  i,  332.     G.   F.  Schoe- 

lonia  and  Assyria,  New  York,  1911,  mann  denies  that  the  dcre'Aivoi  were     , 

pp.  214,  333  sqq.;   idem,  Die  Reli-  truly   ill-omened,    since   there    are 

gion    Babyloniens    und    Assyriens,  instances    of    popular    assemblies 

Giessen,     1905-1912,     i,     440,     ii,  being  fixed   for  these  days   (Grie- 

510   sqq.     Compare    L.    W.  King,  chische  Alterthumerf  edited    by  J. 

Babylonian     Magic     and     Sorcery,  H.   Lipsius,   Berlin,  1897-1902,   ii, 

London,  1896,  pp.  5  sq.  457    w.4).     It    would    seem,    how- 

2 1.    Goldziher,     in    Archiv    fur  ever,  that  the  Athenians,  like  the 

Religionswissenschaft,     1910,     xiii,  Romans,   sometimes   distinguished 

44   n.4      For    the    Abyssinian    be-  between  days  popularly  considered 

liefs  see  E.  Littmann,  ibid.,  1908,  unlucky  and  those  officially  recog- 

xi,  314  sq.  nized  as  such  in  the  state  calendars. 

3  E.  Rhode,  Psyche,*  Tubingen,  Friday  is  for  us  a  most  unlucky  day, 

1910,  i,  234  n.1,  269  w.2;   E.  Caille-  but,  excepting  Good  Friday,  it  is 

mer,    in    Daremberg   and    Saglio's  not  a  dies  non. 


i4o  REST  DAYS 

to  descend  to  the  underworld  and  the  abode  of  shades ; 
hence  the  moon  came  to  be  associated  with  Persephone.1 
The  Romans  do  not  appear  to  have  marked  the  inter- 
lunium  or  intermenstruum  by  any  special  observances. 
European  folklore,  however,  still  preserves  traces  of 
the  ancient  superstition,  as  in  the  Cornish  belief  that 
a  child,  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  born  at  this  time,  will 
never  live  to  attain  the  age  of  puberty.  Hence  the 
saying,  "No  moon,  no  man."  2  Similar  beliefs  would 
seem  to  survive  in  the  very  common  idea  that  the  thre^e 
days  before  the  new  moon  are  especially  unlucky  and 
likely  to  be  attended  by  storms  and  winds.3 

We  may  well  believe  that  the  different  appearances 
of  the  moon  were  the  first  celestial  phenomena  observed 
with  any  degree  of  continuous  attention  by  primitive 
man.  Not  only  are  the  phases  of  the  moon  marked 
by  striking  variations  in  her  form  and  in  the  amount 
of  light  she  radiates,  but  from  night  to  night  she  follows 
a  regular  path  through  the  sky,  changing  her  elevation 
above  the  horizon  and  appearing  to  occupy  at  her 
successive  phases  different  quarters  of  the  heavens. 
Such  phenomena  present  elements  of  mystery  not 
found  in  the  sun's  prosaic  course.  A  survey  of  the 
anthropological  evidence  appears  to  indicate,  as  might 
indeed  be  expected,  that  of  the  lunar  phases  it  is  particu- 
larly the  new  moon  which  awakens  interest  and  atten- 
tion. The  first  appearance  of  that  luminary  in  the 
western  sky  after  sunset  is  often  hailed  with  various 

1  Roscher,  ffber  Selene  und^  Fer-  2  T.  F.  T.  Dyer,  English  Folk- 

wandtes,    pp.    46   sqq.     The    inter-  lore,  London,  1878,  p.  41 ;  Thomas 

lunar   days   were   selected   by   the  Hardy,    The  Return  of  the  Native, 

ancients  for  the  celebration  of  the  London,  1895,  p.  29. 
sacred  marriages  of  the  gods  and  3  H.   A.    Hazen,   in   Journal   of 

goddesses  and,  particularly,  of  the  American  Folk-lore,  1900,  xiii,  192. 

sun  and  moon.     At  least  from  the  American     folklore     contains     the 

time  of  Thales  the  conjunction  of  injunction  never  to  kill  cattle  or 

the     two      luminaries     was     indi-  pigs,  or  even  wild   game,   by  the 

cated    by   the    same   term   crvvoSos  "dark  of  the  moon";    it  is  most 

(coitus)  which  was  applied   to  the  unlucky,  and  the  meat  will  come 

act   of  procreation    (ibid.,    pp.    76  to  no  good  (Bergen,  Current  Super- 

sqq.).  stitions,  p.  121). 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS     141 

ceremonial  observances.  The  Indians  of  the  Ucayali 
River  in  Peru  are  said  to  greet  the  appearance  of  the  new 
moon  with  great  joy.  They  make  long  speeches  to  her, 
accompanied  with  vehement  gesticulations,  imploring 
her  protection  and  begging  that  she  invigorate  their 
bodies.1  Certain  tribes  of  southern  California,  after- 
wards gathered  into  the  Mission  of  San  Juan  Capis- 
trano,  celebrated  the  new  moon  with  dances,  saying, 
"As  the  moon  dieth  and  cometh  to  life  again,  so  we 
also,  having  to  die,  will  again  live."  2  The  Dakota 
and  other  Plains  Indians,  when  the  moon  does  not 
shine,  "  say  the  moon  is  dead ;  and  some  call  the  three 
last  days  of  it  the  naked  days.  The  moon's  first 
appearance  they  term  its  coming  to  life  again."  At 
this  time  they  stretch  forth  their  hands  toward  the 
moon  and  repeat  joyful  expressions.3  The  Creek  and 
Cherokee  Indians,  according  to  an  early  writer,  "as- 
semble and  feast  at  the  appearance  of  the  new  moon, 
when  they  seem  to  be  in  great  mirth  and  gladness,  but, 
I  believe,  make  no  offerings  to  that  planet."  4  Similar 
observances  have  been  noted  in  various  parts  of 
Africa.  An  old  traveller  recites  how,  at  the  appearance 
of  every  new  moon,  the  Congo  negroes,  "fall  on  their 
knees,  or  else  cry  out,  standing  and  clapping  their  hands, 
6  So  may  I  renew  my  life  as  thou  art  renewed.' '  But  if 
the  sky  was  clouded,  they  did  nothing,  believing  that  the 
moon  had  lost  its  virtue.5  The  Mandingo,  on  the  first 
appearance  of  the  new  moon,  "which  they  look  upon  to 
be  newly  created,"  say  a  short  prayer.6  The  Bushmen 
had  their  special  seasons  of  merry-making,  when  the 
dance  was  never  neglected.  "Dancing  began  with  the 

1  W.  Smy the  and  F.  Lowe,  Nar-      America?  London,   1781,  pp.  250, 
r alive  of  a  Journey  from   Lima  to      252. 

Para,  London,  1836,  p.  230.  4  W.    Bartram,   in    Transactions 

2  Father  G.  Boscana,    "Chinig-      of  the  American  Ethnological  Society, 
chinich,"  in  Life  in  California  by  an      1853,  iii,  pt.  i,  26. 

American,    New   York,    1846,    pp.  5  Merolla,  "Voyage  to  Congo," 

298  sq.  in  Pinkerton's  Voyages  and  Travels, 

3  Jonathan       Carver,       Travels      xvi,  273. 

through  the  Interior  Parts  of  North  6  Mungo  Park,  op.  cit.,  i,  265. 


142  REST  DAYS 

new  moon,  as  an  expression  of  joy  that  the  dark  nights 
had  ended,  and  was  continued  at  the  full  moon,  that  they 
might  avail  themselves  of  the  delicious  coolness  after  the 
heat  of  the  day,  and  the  brilliancy  of  the  moonlight  in 
this  portion  of  the  southern  hemisphere."  l 

It  has  been  suggested  that  in  many  cases  the  cere- 
monies at  new  moon  have  a  magical  aspect.  On  this 
theory  the  first  appearance  of  the  luminary,  with  its 
promise  of  growth  and  increase,  would  be  greeted 
with  rites  intended  to  renew  and  strengthen,  by  means 
of  sympathetic  magic,  the  life  of  man.2  Though  it  is 
true  that  in  process  of  time  ideas  of  a  magico-religious 
character  may  attach  themselves  to  lunar  phenomena, 
and  especially  to  new  moon,  there  seems  to  be  little 
reason  for  assuming  them  to  be  original  and  primary. 
Most  of  the  foregoing  examples,  indeed,  may  be  more 
simply  interpreted  as  a  naive  expression  of  man's 
delight  at  the  return  of  the  moon  to  the  world,  after 
an  absence  at  once  mysterious  and  portentous.  Still 
less  necessary  is  the  assumption,  so  commonly  made, 
that  all  lunar  ceremonies  are  acts  of  worship  addressed 
to  the  moon  as  a  divinity.  Religious  festivals  appear 
in  the  first  instance  to  be  fixed  at  new  moon  or  full 
moon  because  these  are  the  two  most  striking  periods 
of  the  lunation  and  mark,  respectively,  the  beginning 
and  middle  of  the  lunar  month. 

1  G.  W.  Stow,  The  Native  Races  Turner,  Samoa,  p.  67;  A.  E.  Jenks, 

of    South    Africa,    London,     1905,  in  Ethnological  Survey  Publications, 

p.    112.     For  further  examples  of  i,  206  (Bontoc  Igorot  of  Luzon); 

new-moon   and   full-moon  celebra-  V.    Solomon,    in    Journal    of    the 

tions  see  P.   Kolben,    The  Present  Anthropological      Institute,      1902, 

State  of  the   Cape   of  Good  Hope,  xxxii,  213  (Nicobarese) ;   W.  Bogo- 

London,  1731,  i,  96  (Hottentots);  ras,   in   Memoirs   of  the   American 

J.  Bonwick,  Daily  Life  and  Origin  Museum  of  Natural  History,  xi,  378 

of  the   Tasmanians,  London,   1870,  (Chukchi);    J.  v.   Klaproth,  Reise 

pp.  1 86  sqq.;    Seligmann,  Melane-  in  den  Kaukasus  und  nach  Georgien, 

sians  of  British  New  Guinea, ,  p.  193  Halle,    1814,  ii,   602    (Osetes) ;   A. 

(Koita) ;     Carl  Ribbe,  Zzvei  Jahre  von  Humboldt,  Fues  des  Cordilleres, 

unter  den  Kannibalen  der  Salomo-  Paris,    1816,    ii,    244    (Muysca    of 

Inseln,     Dresden,     1903,     p.     163  Colombia). 

(Shortland    Island) ;     Taylor,     Te  2  Frazer,  Adonis,  Attis,  Osiris,3 

Ika    A    Maui,     p.     93     (Maori) ;  ii,  140. 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    143 

Among  many  peoples  in  both  the  lower  and  the 
higher  culture  the  time  of  new  moon  and  full  moon, 
much  less  commonly  of  each  half  moon,  forms  a  season 
of  restriction  and  abstinence.  The  lunar  day  is  some- 
times a  holy  day  dedicated  to  a  god,  who  may  be  identi- 
fied with  the  moon  itself.  Instances  of  this  sort  are 
to  be  correlated  with  the  general  course  of  religious 
development,  involving,  as  it  does,  the  emergence  of 
polytheistic  cults  and  the  schematization  of  the  ritual. 
But  under  more  primitive  conditions  the  lunar  day  is  a 
tabooed  day,  quite  independent  of  any  association 
with  a  deity.  It  seems  idle  to  seek  a  particularistic 
explanation  for  the  taboos  observed  on  such  an  occa- 
sion. We  have  already  noticed  the  sympathetic  influ- 
ence which  the  waxing  and  waning  of  the  moon  is  sup- 
posed to  exert  on  human  activities.  Furthermore, 
we  have  seen  that  the  new  moon,  rising  as  it  were  from 
the  dead,  is  thought  to  be  pregnant  with  meaning  for 
the  life  of  man.  Her  very  newness  is  an  element  of 
interest ;  her  contrasts,  in  shape,  size,  and  position  in 
the  heavens,  to  the  old  moon  further  deepen  the  impres- 
sion of  her  significance ;  and  her  function  of  inaugu- 
rating the  month  not  only  gives  to  her  a  special  place 
in  primitive  calendar  systems  but  also  invests  her 
with  the  emotional  importance  belonging  to  the  com- 
mencement of  any  new  period.  These  ideas  of  lunar 
influence  are  naturally  extended  to  the  full  moon, 
which,  as  will  be  shown,  is  commonly  regarded  as 
marking  the  division  of  the  lunar  month  into  two  equal 
parts,  and  in  some  instances  to  the  half  moons,  as 
indicating  the  other  prominent  stages  in  a  lunation. 
The  phases  of  the  moon  thus  come  to  be  considered 
critical  times  and  to  be  marked  not  only  by  religious 
exercises  but  also  by  fasting  and  cessation  of  the  cus- 
tomary occupations.1 

1  The  vice  of  seeking  particu-  ingenuity,  has  argued  that  the 
laristic  explanations  of  widespread  early  Semites  founded  their  Sab- 
social  phenomena  is  illustrated  by  baths  on  the  observation  that  the 
Nielsen,  who,  with  misdirected  moon  (conceived  as  a  divinity) 


144  REST  DAYS 

Lunar  taboos,  involving  abstinence  and  quiescence, 
are  commonly  observed  in  Polynesia  and  Indonesia.1 
Various  African  peoples  likewise  entertain  pronounced 
beliefs  regarding  the  unfavourable  influence  of  the 
moon's  changes  on  human  activities.  The  Zulu  wel- 
come the  first  appearance  of  the  new  moon  with  demon- 
strations of  joy,  but  on- the  day  following  they  abstain 
from  all  labour,  "thinking  if  anything  is  sown  on  those 
days  they  can  never  reap  the  benefits  thereof."  2  The 
Bapiri,  a  tribe  of  the  Bechuana  stock,  stay  at  home  at 
new  moon  and  do  not  go  out  to  the  fields.  "They 
believe  that  if  they  should  set  about  their  labour  at 
such  a  season,  the  millet  would  remain  in  the  ground 
without  sprouting,  or  that  the  ear  would  fail  to  fill, 
or  that  it  would  be  destroyed  by  rust."  3  Of  another 
Bechuana  tribe,  the  Makololo,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  Leeambye  River,  Livingstone  remarks,  "  There  is 
no  stated  day  of  rest  in  any  part  of  this  country  except 
the  day  after  the  appearance  of  the  new  moon,  and  the 
people  then  refrain  only  from  going  to  their  gardens."  4 
An  earlier  writer,  referring  to  the  Bechuana,  says  that 
when  the  new  moon  appears,  "  all  must  cease  from  work, 

rests    four    times    in    a    lunation.  addition  to  the  cessation  of  labour, 

Days   on   which   the   deity   rested  which  occur  in  connection  with  the 

were  to  be  likewise  observed  by  his  moon's  changes.     And,  as  we  shall 

worshippers    as    days  of  rest    (D.  see,  the  observance  of  lunar  taboos 

Nielsen,    Die    altarabische    Mond-  may  be  quite  dissociated  from  true 

religion  und  die  mosaische  Uberlie-  moon-worship   and   probably   long 

jerung,    Strassburg,    1904,    pp.  63  antedates  the  latter  cult. 

sqq.).     It   is   true   that   the   moon  *  Above,  pp.  14  sq.,  20,  32  and 

looks  full  for  a  day  or  two  before  n.2,  34  and  n.1,  37,  52  n.1 

and  for  a  day  or  two  after  she  is  2  Lieutenant  Farewell,  in  W.  F. 

full;    similarly,  the  changes  in  her  W.  Owen,  Narrative  of  Foyages  to 

form    at   the  beginning  of  a  luna-  explore  the  Shores  of  Africa,  Arabia, 

tion  are  scarcely  perceptible.     The  and  Madagascar,  London,  1833,  ii, 

moon,  therefore,  might  be  said  to  397;    compare  Dudley  Kidd,   The 

"rest"  at  these  two  periods.     But  Essential     Kafir,     London,     1904, 

neither    astronomical    science    nor  p.  no. 

untutored    observation    lends    any  3  G.  W.  Stow,  The  Native  Races 

support  to  the  idea  that  the  moon  of    South    Africa,    London,    1905, 

"rests"  at  the  close  of  each  and  p.  414. 

every  phase.     Such  a  hypothesis,  4  Missionary     Travels    and    Re- 

were  it  true,  would  not  account  for  searches    in    South    Africa,™    New 

the  other  forms  of  abstinence,  in  York,  1870,  p.  255. 


LUN^ 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND  FESTIVALS    145 

and  keep  what  is  called  in  England  a  holiday."  l  To 
the  north  of  the  Bechuana,  in  the  upper  basin  of  the 
Zambesi,  live  the  Barotse,  by  whom  the  new  moon  is 
made  an  occasion  for  great  festivities.  "It  is  a  general 
holiday;  men  of  all  ranks  sing  and  dance,  while  the 
women  assemble  apart  and  give  vent  to  strident  howls 
of  their  own."  2  Similarly,  among  all  the  people  from 
Nyassaland  to  Ujiji  on  Lake  Tanganyika  the  first 
night  of  the  new  moon  is  a  public  festival,  sometimes 
celebrated  by  a  dance  in  which  the  men  alone  partici- 
pate.3 The  Baziba,  who  dwell  to  the  west  and  south- 
west of  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza,  are  said  to  be  one  of 
the  few  tribes  in  this  part  of  Africa  having  "a  recog- 
nized day  of  rest,  independently  of  the  Christians' 
Sabbath.  The  two  first  days  of  every  moon  are  uni- 
versal holidays."  4 

A  superstitious  observance  of  the  new-moon  day  is 
found  among  some  of  the  tribes  and  peoples  occupy- 
ing British  East  Africa.  The  Akamba,  whose  beliefs 
regarding  the  interlunium  have  been  already  men- 
tioned,5 also  consider  it  very  unlucky  to  move  cattle 
or  livestock  of  any  kind  from  one  place  or  another,  or 
even  to  give  presents  of  any  stock,  during  the  first 
four  days  of  the  new  moon.6  Well-marked  Sabbaths 
are  kept  by  some  sections  of  the  Baganda,  the  great 
tribe,  or  rather  nation,  occupying  Uganda.  At  the 
temple  estate  of  the  god  Mukasa,  the  most  important 
Baganda  deity,  there  was  a  weeks'  rest,  bwerende,  on 
the  appearance  of  each  new  moon ;  no  special  gather- 
ings were  held  during  this  period,  but  the  people  did 
the  minimum  of  work,  even  the  cutting  of  firewood 
being  forbidden.  All  preparations  for  the  festival 
were  made  beforehand,  in  order  that  the  women  should 
not  be  obliged  to  perform  any  labour  other  than  cook- 

1John'   Campbell,     Travels     in  3  Ibid.y  p.  295. 

South    Africa,    London,    1822,    ii,  4  J.  F.  Cunningham,  Uganda  and 

205.  its  Peoples,  London,  1905,  p.  294. 

2  L.  Decle,  Three  Years  in  Sav-  B  Above,  p.  136. 

age  Africa,  London,  1900,  pp.  85  sq.  6  Hobley,  op.  cit.t  p.  104. 

L 


146  REST  DAYS 

ing.1  In  Budu,  a  district  of  Uganda,  there  is  a  curious 
worship  of  the  python,  conducted  by  members  of  the 
Heart  clan.  The  sacred  snake,  which  bears  the  title 
of  Selwanga,  is  kept  in  a  temple  and  receives  worship 
at  the  new  moon.  When  this  appears,  the  people 
repair  to  the  shrine  of  the  python  and  make  their 
offerings.  No  work  may  be  done  on  the  estate  for 
seven  days.2  Again,  the  principal  chief  of  the  district 
of  Singo,  who  was  shield-bearer  to  the  king  of  the 
Baganda,  "had  to  observe  a  taboo  each  full  moon, 
namely,  to  abstain  from  food  from  noon  of  the  day  of 
the  full  moon  until  the  following  morning,  and  also  to 
live  apart  from  his  wives  during  that  time.  'It  is 
full  moon,  the  Mukwenda  may  not  eat,'  was  a  saying 
among  the  people."  3  The  Banyoro,  a  Bantu  people 
related  to  the  Baganda,  who  inhabit  the  country  to 
the  northwest  of  Uganda,  performed  every  full  moon  a 
ceremony  which  has  been  thus  described:  "In  the 
afternoon  all  the  drums  in  the  place  were  beaten,  and 
everybody  shouted,  as  no  one  dared  keep  silent  for 
fear  of  offending  the  moon.  The  king  posted  men  at 
the  cross-roads  and  seized  every  one  who  passed  along. 
These  unfortunate  folk  were  brought  in  to  him  and 
offered  as  a  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  whole  country 
to  the  evil  spirits.  The  hair  of  the  victims  was  put 
into  cow  horns  and  their  blood  was  poured  on  to  it, 
the  horns  being  then  kept  by  different  people  as  charms 
against  sickness  and  trouble.  After  this  the  king  ap- 
peared swathed  in  barkcloths,  taking  up  his  position 
in  his  council  hall,  his  subjects  coming  to  do  obeisance 
to  him.  A  dead  silence  prevailed,  for  no  one  was  al- 
lowed to  even  cough  in  his  presence.  ...  As  the 
full  moon  rose  the  feasting  began,  and  the  drinking 
and  dancing  continued  till  dawn.  The  king's  chief 
wife  had  to  sit  by  her  intoxicated  spouse  and  pinch 

1  John    Roscoe,     The    Baganda,  2  Roscoe,  Baganda,  pp.  320  sqq.; 

London,  1911,  pp.  297,  299,  428;  idem,  "Python  Worship  in  Ugan- 

idem,  in  Journal  of  the  Anthropo-  da,"  Man,  1909,  ix,  88  sqq. 
logical  Institute,  1902,  xxxii,  76.  3  Idem,  Baganda,  pp.  249  sq. 


LUM 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    147 

his  arm  or  bite  his  finger,  to  prevent  sleep ;  for  a  man 
to  slumber  during  full  moon  brought  disaster  to  the 
household."  l  New  moon,  as  well  as  full  moon,  seems 
to  have  been  observed  by  the  Banyoro,  for  Speke  found 
the  palace  of  the  king  of  Unyoro  shut  up,  because  the 
new  moon  had  been  seen  for  the  first  time  on  the  pre- 
ceding evening.2  The  same  explorer  describes  a  like 
custom  found  among  the  Bahima,  or  Wahuma,  of 
Ankole,  a  region  lying  to  the  southwest  of  Uganda. 
"On  the  first  appearance  of  the  new  moon  every  month, 
the  king  shuts  himself  up,  contemplating  and  arranging 
his  magic  horns  —  the  horns  of  wild  animals  stuffed 
with  charm-powder  —  for  two  or  three  days.  These 
may  be  counted  his  Sundays  or  church  festivals  which 
he  dedicates  to  devotion."  3 

New-moon  and  full-moon  festivals,  accompanied 
by  abstinence  from  secular  activities,  are  thus  seen  to 
form  a  common  feature  of  native  life  in  southern  and 
eastern  Africa.  The  custom  of  keeping  them  as  rest 
days  is  apparently  confined  to  Bantu  peoples,  who 
arose  from  a  mixture  of  Hamites  with  the  true  negroes. 
No  Sabbatarian  regulations  are  discoverable  among  the 
Bushmen,  representing  the  aborigines  of  southern  Africa, 
or  among  the  non-Bantu  tribes  of  eastern  Africa. 
It  may  be  argued,  therefore,  that  these  African  Sab- 
baths are  of  foreign  parentage,  being  derived  remotely 
from  Hamitic  and  Himyaritic  (Semitic)  immigrants 
into  Africa.  The  argument  is  strengthened  by  the 
fact  that  lunar  festivals  may  be  traced  to  a  remote 
antiquity,  both  in  Egypt  and  in  western  Asia.  In  any 
case,  however,  they  must  have  been  much  modified 
with  their  transmission  from  tribe  to  tribe  and  from 
century  to  century. 

1  Mrs.    A.    B.    Fisher,    Twilight  Speke  this  custom  is  also  observed 
Tales  of  the  Black  Baganda,  London  by  the  king  of  Uganda,  who,  on  the 
[1912],  pp.  37  sq.  first  day  after  the  appearance  of 

2  J.    H.    Speke,   Journal   of  the  the  new  moon,  examines  and   ar- 
Discovery  of  the  Source  of  the  Nile,  ranges    his    mapembe,    or    fetishes 
Edinburgh,  1863,  p.  523.  (ibid.,   p.   372). 

3  Ibid.,    p.    259.     According    to 


148  REST  DAYS 

None  of  the  natives  of  southern  and  eastern  Africa 
who  observe  new  moon  and  full  moon  as  seasons  of 
abstinence  appear  to  be  familiar  with  the  market  week 
and  the  market  day.  On  the  other  hand,  in  central 
and  western  Africa,  where  markets  are  so  generally 
found  and  where  the  market  day  is  kept  as  a  holiday, 
lunar  festivals  accompanied  by  a  cessation  of  labour 
are  very  rare.1  Lieutenant-Colonel  Ellis,  who  was 
much  impressed  with  the  resemblance  of  the  west- 
African  rest  day  to  the  Hebrew  Sabbath,  supposed 
that  both  were  once  lunar  festivals,  connected  with 
moon-worship  and  celebrated  on  the  first  day  of  the 
new  moon.  "This  holy  day,  before  the  invention  of 
weeks,  recurred  monthly,  but  after  the  lunar  month 
was  divided,  it  recurred  weekly,  and  was  held  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week."  2  His  theory,  however  plaus- 
ible at  first  sight,  breaks  down  when  we  remember 
that  the  keeping  of  moon-days  as  Sabbaths  does  not 
necessarily  imply  worship  of  the  moon  as  a  deity ;  that 
full  moon,  as  well  as  new  moon,  may  be  observed 
festively  with  abstinence  from  labour;  and,  finally, 
that  the  market  week  did  not  arise  as  a  subdivision  of 
the  month,  but  was  in  origin  quite  independent  of  the 
lunation.  The  restrictions  attending  market  days  have 
nothing  to  do  with  superstitions  relating  to  the  moon. 

Lunar  taboos  are  not  unknown  in  modern  India. 
The  natives  of  northern  India  regard  the  new  moon  as 
an  unfavourable  time  for  undertaking  important  busi- 
ness.3 The  Kanarese,  whose  customs  and  beliefs 
relating  to  the  last  day  of  the  lunar  month  have  al- 
ready been  noticed,  do  not  plough  their  fields  at  new 

1  The  Mendi  of  the  hinterland  nize    no    weeks    (Yoruba-s peaking 

of  Sierra  Leone  are  said  to  hold  a  Peoples,  p.  146). 
new-moon    festival    and    at    it    to  2  Ibid.     Ellis  presented  his  argu- 

abstain   from   all   work,   "alleging  ments  more  fully  in  an  article  "On 

that    if   they    infringed    this    rule  the  Origin  of  Weeks  and  Sabbaths/' 

corn  and  rice  would  grow  red,  the  Popular    Science    Monthly,     1895, 

new  moon  being  a  'day  of  blood/  "  xlvi,  329-343. 

Ellis,  who  cites  this  instance  with-  3  W.  Crooke,  The  Popular  Reli- 

out  giving  his  authority,  adds  the  gion     and    Folk-lore     of    Northern 

further  fact  that  the  Mendi  recog-  India,2  Westminster,    1896,    i,   23. 


UNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    149 

>n  and  full  moon.1  The  Badaga  of  the  Nilgiri 
Hills  in  southeastern  India  think  that  children  born 
on  the  day  of  the  new  moon,  the  full  moon,  or  any  one 
of  the  three  days  immediately  preceding  the  full  moon, 
will  be  unfortunate  throughout  life.2  The  Korava 
regard  the  day  after  new  moon  as  unlucky  for  starting 
out  from  home.3  Similar  superstitions  are  doubtless 
to  be  found  among  other  Dravidian  peoples. 

The  Aryans  of  ancient  India  observed  two  sacred 
periods  in  every  month,  new  moon  and  full  moon, 
with  sacrifices  to  the  gods.4  The  simpler  forms  of  the 
rite  were  gradually  extended  into  an  elaborate  ritual. 
Every  Brahmanical  householder  was  required  to  per- 
form two  half-monthly  sacrifices  for  a  period  of  thirty 
years,  after  he  had  set  up  a  home  of  his  own.  Accord- 
ing to  some  authorities  these  sacrifices  were  obligatory 
for  the  rest  of  his  life.  The  ceremony  usually  occupied 
the  greater  part  of  two  consecutive  days.  While  the 
first  day  was  to  be  chiefly  occupied  with  preparatory 
rites  and  the  taking  of  the  vow  of  abstinence  (vrata) 
by  the  sacrificer  and  his  wife,  the  second  day  was  re- 
served for  the  performance  of  the  main  ceremony.5 
Since  it  was  permitted  to  compress  the  two  days'  rites 
of  the  full-moon  sacrifice  into  a  single  day,  the  conjec- 

1  Gengnagel,  "Volksglaube  und  Opferrituals,"     Indische     Studien, 
Wahrsagerei     an     der    Westkiiste  1868,    x,    329   sqq.;     H.    Zimmer, 
Indians/*     Ausland,     1891,     Ixiv,  Altindisches    Leben,    Berlin,    1879, 
871  sq.  pp.  364  sq.;    A.  Hillebrandt,  Das 

2  F.  Jagor,  in  V erhandlungen  der  altindische   Neu-    und     Vollmonds- 
Berliner    Gesellschaft   fur    Anthro-  opfer,      Jena,      1879;      idem,      in 
pologie,     Ethnologie,      und      Urge-  Biihler's  Grundriss  der  indo-arischen 
schichte,  1876,  p.  (201)  (bound  with  Philologie      und      Altertumskundet 
Zeitschrift  fur  Ethnologic,  vol.  viii).  Strassburg,  1901,  ii,  pt.  ii,  pp.  75  sq. 

3  Thurston,    Omens   and   Super-  The    new-moon    day    was     called 
stitions  of  Southern  India,  p.  22.  darsa,  the  day  of  the  full  moon, 

4  Rig-Veda,    i,    9,    I,    i,    94,    4  purnamdsa. 

(transl.  H.  Grassmann,  ii,  8,  95) ;  8  The     first      day     was     called 

Atharva-Veda,   vii,    79,    3,  vii,  80,  upavasatha,   a  fasting  or  fast  day 

1-4     (transl.     W.     D.     Whitney,  (compare  Sanskrit  upa,  an  adver- 

pp.  444-446) ;    Martin  Haug,   The  bial  adjunct,  signifying  to  refrain 

Aitareya   Brahmanam    o/  the   Rig-  from,  abstain,  hence,  to  fast).     The 

Veda,    Bombay,    1863,    ii,    5;     A.  second  day's  ceremony  was  known 

Weber,  "Zur  Kenntnis  des  vedische  as  the  darsapurnamdsa  sacrifice. 


ISO  REST  DAYS 

ture  is  plausible  that  originally  only  one  day  was 
assigned  to  the  observances  of  abstinence  and  sacri- 
fice.1 The  ritualistic  requirements  for  this  ceremony 
do  not  expressly  include  the  cessation  of  labour  by  the 
Brahmanical  householder  and  his  family.  It  might 
be  argued,  therefore,  that  the  new-moon  and  full- 
moon  observances  were  not  originally  dictated  by  a 
superstitious  regard  for  the  lunar  phases.  The  fasting 
on  the  upavasatha  day  would  then  be  merely  a  rite 
preliminary  to  the  sacrifice  on  the  following  day ;  and 
the  association  of  the  two  ceremonies  with  new  and 
full  moon  would  mean  only  that  these  two  divisions 
of  a  lunar  month  were  selected  as  convenient  and  con- 
spicuous periods  for  the  performance  of  religious  duties. 
But  the  evidence  at  our  disposal  enables  us  to  attach  a 
deeper  significance  to  the  ancient  Aryan  rite. 

In  the  first  place  it  is  well  known  that  the  upavasatha 
was  a  fast  preparatory  to  the  offering  of  the  "moon 
plant,"  the  intoxicating  soma,  whose  personification 
and  deification  are  assigned  to  a  date  earlier  than  that 
of  the  Vedas  themselves.  A  very  competent  scholar, 
after  pointing  out  that  in  Vedic  literature  the  moon 
takes  a  much  higher  rank  than  the  sun,  being  regarded 
as  the  creator  and  ruler  of  the  world,  has  argued  that 
everywhere  in  the  Rig-Veda  soma  and  the  moon  are 
identified,  and  that  the  terrestrial  plant  is  merely  a 
symbolic  representation  of  the  luminary.  According 
to  this  view  the  moon-god  as  Soma  forms  the  centre 
of  Vedic  religion.2  The  theory,  thus  unequivocally 
stated,  has  not  won  wide  acceptance ;  according  to 
the  commoner  view  Soma  as  a  god  is  ordinarily  cele- 
brated in  the  Vedic  hymns  only  as  a  personification 
of  the  beverage ;  and  his  identification  with  the  moon 
is  to  be  explained  as  a  secondary  mythological  forma- 
tion. Certain  instances  of  such  identification  are  met 
in  a  few  of  the  latest  hymns  of  the  Rig-Veda;  and  in  the 

1  Satapatha-Brdhmana,    i,    I,    I,  2  A.    Hillebrandt,    Vedische  My- 

I   sqq.   (Sacred  Books  of  the  East>       thologie,      Breslau,     1891-1899,     i, 
xii,  I  sq.;  compare  also  374  sq.).  267  sqq.,  313,  366  sqq.;  ii,  209-240. 


» 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND  FESTIVALS    151 

Atharva-Veda  Soma  several  times  means  the  moon. 
Post-Vedic  writings  regularly  refer  to  Soma  as  the 
moon,  which,  when  drunk  by  the  gods,  begins  to  wane.1 

In  the  second  place  the  two  half-monthly  sacrifices 
were  characterized  by  restrictions  which  can  best  be 
described  as  taboos.  The  Brahmanical  householder 
was  obliged  to  abstain  from  certain  kinds  of  food,  espe- 
cially meat,  and  from  sexual  intercourse.  He  might 
not  cut  hair,  beard,  or  nails.  He  should  sleep,  not  on 
a  bed,  but  on  the  ground.  The  directions  for  the  cere- 
monies, as  given  in  the  Grihya-sutra  of  Gobhila,  further 
require  the  worshipper  not  to  set  out  on  a  journey ;  if 
he  is  away  from  home  even  at  a  distant  place,  to  return 
to  his  house  ;  not  to  sell  goods  (though  he  may  buy  them 
from  others) ;  and  to  speak  as  little  as  possible.2  It 
is  obvious  that  the  scrupulous  observance  of  all  these 
regulations  would  convert  the  upavasatha  day  into  a 
Sabbath,  marked,  not  only  by  fasting,  but  also  by  the 
cessation  of  most  secular  activities. 

In  post-Vedic  times  the  Sabbatarian  quality  of  lunar 
days  becomes  increasingly  prominent.  In  the  In- 
stitutes of  Vishnu  the  new  moon  is  mentioned  as  a 
penitential  fast  day.3  A  variety  of  lunar  penances  is 
prescribed  in  the  Laws  of  Manu*  The  same  lawbook 
sets  forth  that  "on  the  (night  of)  new  moon  and  the 
eighth  (lunar  day),  and  also  on  the  (night  of)  full 
moon  and  the  fourteenth  (lunar  day),  let  a  Brahman 
who  has  finished  his  student's  course  be  always  (as) 
a  student,  even  in  season,"  that  is,  let  him  remain 
chaste.5  According  to  the  Vishnu  Purana,  a  rela- 
tively late  production  of  Brahmanical  thought,  there 

1  A.      Bergaigne,     La     religion  i,  6,  4,  5   sqq.   (S.  B.  E.,  xii,  176 

vediquf,    Paris,    1878,    i,    157   sqq.;  sqq.). 

A.    A.    Macdonell,    Vedic   Mythol-  2  Grihya-sutra  of  Gobhilay   i,   5, 

ogy,     Strassburg,     1897,    pp.     112  1-26  (S.  B.  E.,  xxx,  25-28). 
sqq.;     E.    W.    Hopkins,    The  Reli-  3  Institutes   of   Fishnu,   xlvii,    3 

gions  of  India,  Boston,    1895,  pp.  (S.  B.  E.,  vii,  152). 
112   sqq.;   J.    Muir,  Original  San-  4  Laws    of   Manu,    xi,    217   sqq. 

skrit  Texts?  London,   1884,  v,   270  (S.  B.  E.,  xxv,  474  sq.). 
sq.    Compare  Satapatha-Brdhmana,  6  Ibid.,  iv,  128  (S.B.E.,  xxv,  149). 


152  REST  DAYS 

are  "certain  days  on  which  unguents,  flesh,  and  women 
are  unlawful,  as  the  eighth  and  fourteenth  lunar  days, 
new  moon  and  full  moon,  and  the  entrance  of  the  sun 
into  a  new  sign.  On  these  occasions  the  wise  will 
restrain  their  appetites,  and  occupy  themselves  in  the 
worship  of  the  gods,  as  enjoined  by  holy  writ,  in  medita- 
tion, and  in  prayer;  and  he  who  behaves  differently 
will  fall  into  a  hell  where  ordure  will  be  his  food."  1 
It  is  also  said  that  he  who  attends  to  secular  affairs 
on  the  days  of  the  parvans  (new  moon  and  full  moon) 
will  be  punished  hereafter  in  a  hell  of  blood.2  For 
modern  Brahmans  the  new-moon  and  full-moon  days 
are  regularly  fast  days.3 

With  the  development  of  the  complex  ritual  of 
Brahmanism  holy  and  unlucky  days  became  almost 
identical  with  days  when  the  sacred  books  should  not 
be  read.  The  code  of  Manu  requires  a  learned  Brahman 
not  to  recite  the  Veda  on  the  new-moon  day,  or  on  the 
fourteenth  and  eighth  days  of  each  half-month,  or 
on  the  full-moon  day.  It  is  said  that  "the  new-moon 
day  destroys  the  teacher,  the  fourteenth  day  the  pupil, 
the  eighth  and  full-moon  days  destroy  all  remembrance 
of  the  Veda ;  let  him  therefore  avoid  reading  on  those 
days."  4  This  injunction,  moreover,  is  repeated  for  a 
great  variety  of  other  critical  occasions :  during  a 
heavy  thunderstorm ;  during  an  eclipse ;  and  when 
an  earthquake  occurs.  A  like  prohibition  is  enforced 
after  events  causing  pollution ;  a  Brahman,  for  ex- 
ample, should  not  read  the  Veda  in  a  village  through 
which  a  corpse  has  been  taken,  or  near  a  burning- 
ground.6  Similar  prohibitions  are  set  forth  at  great 
length  in  the  lawbook  of  Gautama.  The  Veda  ought 
not  to  be  studied  and  recited  when  there  is  a  thunder- 
storm, an  earthquake,  an  eclipse  or  a  fall  of  meteors ; 

1  Vishnu    Purdna,    iii,    n    (the      Customs ;  and  Ceremonies?  Oxford, 
translation     by     H.     H.     Wilson,      1906,  p.  270. 

edited  by  F.  Hall,  London,  1865,  4  Laws    of   Manu,    iv,    113    sq. 

iii,  132  sq.).  (S.  B.  E.,  xxv,  147). 

2  7£tV.,ii,  6  (Wilson-Hall,  ii,  2 19).  6  Ibid.,  iv,   101  sqq.   (S.  B.  E.y 
3J.  A.  Dubois,  Hindu  Manners,  xxv,  144.^.). 


. 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS     153 


n  the  day  of  the  new  moon  (on  the  latter  occasion 
reading  may  be  interrupted  for  two  days) ;  on  the  full 
moon  of  three  months  of  the  year,  and  so  forth.1  In 
the  Vishnu  Pur  ana  we  read  that  "on  the  days  called 
parvans,  on  periods  of  impurity,  upon  unseasonable 
thunder,  at  the  occurrence  of  eclipses  or  atmospheric 
portents,  a  wise  man  must  desist  from  the  study  of  the 
Vedas." 2  Some  of  these  taboos  have  endured  till 
the  present  time,  the  eighth  day  of  each  fortnight,  held 
sacred  to  the  goddess  Durga,  being  a  period  when  no 
study  is  allowable  for  a  pious  Hindu.3 

The  Vedic  ceremonies  at  new  moon  and  full  moon 
appear  to  have  influenced  the  Hindu  festival  of  Bhas- 
kara  Saptami,  which  takes  place  on  the  twenty-second 
of  the  month  Magha,  the  seventh  day  of  the  light 
fortnight  (4th  of  February).  uThis  day  is  in  an  espe- 
cial degree  sacred  to  the  sun.  Abstinence  is  to  be 
practised  on  the  day  preceding;  and  in  the  morning 
before  sunrise,  or  at  the  first  appearance  of  dawn, 
bathing  is  to  be  performed  until  sunrise ;  a  rigid  fast 
is  to  be  observed  throughout  the  day,  worship  is  to  be 
offered  the  sun,  presents  are  to  be  made  to  the  Brah- 
mans,  and  in  the  evening  the  worshipper  is  to  hold  a 
family  feast ;  one  of  the  observances  of  the  day  is 
abstinence  from  study,  neither  teacher  nor  scholar 
being  allowed  to  open  a  book." 4  For  the  proper 
observance  of  the  festival  it  is  also  necessary  that  the 
sun  should  be  worshipped  in  his  own  temple,  with 
prayers  and  offerings  on  the  sixth  day,  during  which 
abstinence  is  to  be  practised,  and  at  night  the  wor- 
shipper should  sleep  on  the  ground.  In  upper  India 
the  festival  day  is  also  called  Achala  Saptami,  the 

1  Gautama,  xvi,    22,   35-37    (S.  3  Sir  M.  Monier- Williams,  Brah- 
B.    E.y    ii,     258    sqq.).      Compare      manism  and  Hinduism,*1  New  York, 
Apastamba,  i,  3,  9,  28:    "at  the      1891^.433. 

new  moon  (he  shall  not  study)  for  4  H.  H.  Wilson,  "The  Religious 

two  days  and  nights"    (S.  B.  E.y  Festivals  of  the  Hindus,"  in  Essays 

ii,  36).  and  Lectures  chiefly  on  the  Religion 

2  Fishhu  Purdha,  iii,  12  (Wilson-  of  the  Hindus,  edited  by  R.  Rost, 
Hall,  iii,  143).  London,  1862,  ii,  194. 


154  REST  DAYS 

fixed  or  immovable  seventh,  or  Jayanti  Saptami,  the 
victorious  seventh,  and  so  forth.  "Whatever  the 
designation,  the  worship  of  the  sun  is  the  prominent 
ceremony  of  the  seventh  of  the  light  half  of  Magha. 
The  same  may  be  said,  however,  of  the  seventh  lunar 
day  throughout  the  year,  chiefly  of  one  seventh  in  each 
fortnight,  that  of  the  moon's  increase ;  but  also  of  the 
seventh  day  of  the  moon's  wane."  1  The  religious 
books  declare  that  whoever  worships  the  sun  on  the 
seventh  day  of  the  moon's  increase,  with  fasting  and 
offerings  of  white  oblations,  as  white  flowers  and  the 
like,  and  whoever  fasts  on  the  seventh  of  the  moon's 
wane  and  offers  to  the  sun  red  flowers  and  articles  of  a 
red  colour,  is  purified  from  all  iniquity  and  goes  after 
death  to  the  solar  sphere.  "The  worship  of  the  sun, 
on  the  seventh  of  the  dark  fortnight,  seems  to  have 
gone  out  of  use,  but  that  on  the  seventh  of  the  light 
fortnight  is  strongly  recommended  in  various  authori- 
ties, beginning  with  this  seventh  of  Magha  and  con- 
tinuing throughout  the  year."  2  The  selection  of  the 
seventh  day  of  each  fortnight  as  the  time  of  the  festival 
may  have  been  due  to  the  symbolic  significance  of 
that  number,  while  the  choice  of  the  sun  as  the  object 
of  adoration  doubtless  reflects  the  commanding  posi- 
tion which  that  luminary  assumed  in  post-Vedic  times. 
The  close  resemblance  between  these  Hindu  ceremonies 
of  sun-worship  and  those  prescribed  in  the  Vedas  for 
the  observance  of  new  moon  and  full  moon  suggests, 
however,  that  there  has  been  a  partial  fusion  of  the 
two  festivals. 

The  Vedic  observance  of  new  moon  and  full  moon 
survived  in  the  ritual  of  both  Jainism  and  Buddhism, 
the  two  great  monastic  sects  which  arose  in  the  sixth 
century  B.C.  out  of  the  bosom  of  Brahmanism.  The 
Jain  ceremony,  known  as  posaha,  is  declared  to  have 
been  specially  instituted  for  those  who  said  that  "we 

!H.  H.  Wilson,  "The  Religious      of  the  Hindus,  edited  by  R.  Rost, 
Festivals  of  the  Hindus,"  in  Essays      London,  1862,  ii,  197. 
and  Lectures  chiefly  on  the  Religion  2  Ibid.,  p.  199. 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    155 

cannot,  submitting  to  the  tonsure,  renounce  the  life 
of  a  householder  and  enter  the  monastic  state,  but  we 
shall  strictly  observe  the  posaha  on  the  fourteenth  and 
eighth  days  of  each  fortnight  (on  the  new-moon  and) 
full-moon  days."  1  The  faithful  householder  "should 
never  neglect  the  posaha  fast  in  both  fortnights,  not 
even  for  a  single  night."  2  In  the  Jain  scriptures,  the 
posaha  is  further  defined  as  the  observance  of  a  fast 
or  the  eating  once  only  on  the  two  holy  days  of  each 
fortnight,  "after  having  given  up  bathing,  unguents, 
ornaments,  company  of  women,  odours,  incense,  lights, 
etc.,  and  assumed  renunciation  as  an  ornament."  The 
posaha  is  thus  distinguished  by  the  four  abstinences 
from  food,  bodily  attentions,  sexual  intercourse,  and 
daily  work.3  The  keeping  of  the  posaha  at  the  present 
day  is  especially  connected  with  the  holy  fast  of  Paj- 
jusana  at  the  close  of  the  Jain  religious  year.  The 
observance  of  the  rite  at  other  times  by  laymen  appears 
to  be  dying  out.4 

The  Buddhist  Sabbath,  or  uposatha,  like  the  Jain 
posaha,  owed  its  existence  remotely  to  the  Vedic  lunar 
rites.  As  celebrated  anciently  in  India  and  in  modern 
times  in  Nepal  and  Ceylon,  the  uposatha  falls  on  the 
day  of  the  new  moon,  on  the  day  of  the  full  moon,  and 
on  the  two  days  which  are  eighth  from  new  and  full 
moon.  The  uposatha  is  marked  not  only  by  fasting 
but  also  by  abstinence  from  secular  activities  :  during 
its  continuance  buying  and  selling,  work  and  business, 
hunting  and  fishing  are  forbidden,  and  all  schools  and 
courts  of  justice  are  closed.  Whoever  observes  the 
uposatha  rigidly  must  abstain  from  food  between  sun- 
rise and  sunset.  Since  no  cooking  is  allowed  to  taint 
the  sanctity  of  the  uposatha,  the  pious  Buddhist  pre- 

1  Sutrakrtahga,  ii,  7,   17;    com-      ford,  1895,  pp.  xix,  23  n.2  (S.B.E., 
pare,  ii,  2,  76  (S.  B.  E.,  xlv,  428  sq.,       vol.  xlv). 

383).  4  Margaret    Stevenson,    "Festi- 

2  Uttaradhyayana,  v,   23  ;     com-  vals  and  Fasts  (Jain)/*  Hastings's 
pare  ix,  42  (S.  B.  E.,  xlv,  23,  39).  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics, 

3  H.  Jacobi,   Gaina  Sutras,  Ox-  v,  875  sq. 


156  REST  DAYS 

pares  his  evening  meal  in  the  early  morning  before  the 
sun  appears.1 

The  uposatha,  as  contrasted  with  the  upavasatha,  is 
a  ceremony  attached  to  all  four  of  the  lunar  phases, 
instead  of  to  two  only;  moreover,  it  is  a  rest  day  as 
well  as  a  fast  day.  How  may  it  be  shown  that  the 
Buddhist  institution  forms  a  natural  outgrowth  of 
the  earlier  Brahmanical  rite  ? 

The  origin  of  the  custom  of  observing  four  days  in 
the  lunar  month  as  uposatha  is  involved  in  some  obscur- 
ity. According  to  Buddhist  tradition  the  monks  of 
non-Buddhistic  sects  were  accustomed  to  assemble 
at  the  middle  and  close  of  every  half-month  for  the 
purpose  of  proclaiming  their  teachings.  The  Buddhists 
also  adopted  the  custom  of  these  periodical  meet- 
ings on  the  fourteenth  or  fifteenth  and  eighth  day  of 
each  half-month,  a  custom  by  them  attributed  to  the 
Buddha  himself.2  There  seems  to  be  not  the  slightest 
ground  for  supposing  that  the  number  of  Buddhist 
Sabbaths  was  originally  two,  but  was  afterwards  in- 
creased to  four  in  every  month.  The  words  of  the 
canon  are :  "  I  prescribe  that  you  assemble  on  the 
fourteenth,  fifteenth,  and  eighth  day  of  each  [half] 
month."  3  In  the  Dhammika  Sutta  the  wording  is  : 
"Then  having  with  a  believing  mind  kept  abstinence 
(uposatha)  on  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth,  and  eighth 

1  H.  Kern,  Der  Buddhismus  und  uposatha  service  on  the  fourteenth 
seine  Geschichte  in  Indien,  Leipzig,  day  of  a  short  month  was  to  be 
1884,  ii,  256  sqq.;  idem,  Manual  of  followed  by  a  celebration  on  the 
Indian  Buddhism,  Strassburg,  1896,  fifteenth    of    the    following    long 
pp.    99   sq.;     R.    C.    Childers,    A  month.     Compare  ibid.,  ii,  34,   i. 
Dictionary    of  the   Pali   Language,  The  important  word  "  half,"  which 
London,  1875,  s.v.  uposatho.  has     been     inserted     above,     was 

2  Mahavagga,  ii,  I,  1-4  (S.  B.  E.,  omitted   by   an   unfortunate  over- 
xiii,  239  sq.;    compare  p.  x).  sight    in    the    translation    of    this 

3  Ibid.,  ii,   I,  4  (S.  B.  E.,  xiii,  passage   from    the   Mahavagga,    as 
240).     This  rule  is  to  be  understood  given   in  the  Sacred  Books  of  the 
as  requiring  an  assembly  to  be  held  East.     It     appears,     however,     in 
on  the  fourteenth  or  the  fifteenth  Mr.  H.  C.  Warren's  rendering  of 
of  each   half-month,   according  as  the    same    passage    (Buddhism    in 
the    month    had    twenty-nine    or  Translations,     Cambridge    [Mass.], 
thirty   days.     In   other   words   an  1909,  p.  404). 


LUN, 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    157 


days  of  the  half-month,"  etc.1  When  Buddhism  arose, 
the  custom  of  keeping  the  eighth  day  of  each  lunar 
fortnight,  in  addition  to  new  moon  and  full  moon, 
appears  to  have  been  well-established  in  both  Brah- 
manism  and  the  non-Buddhistic  sects,  a  circumstance 
which  led  to  the  adoption  of  all  four  periods  by 
Buddhists  as  well.2  Two  of  these  days  (at  new  moon 
and  full  moon)  are  devoted  to  the  special  ceremony  of 
reading,  in  an  assembly  of  at  least  four  monks,  the  pati- 
mokkha,  or  the  disciplinary  and  penal  code  of  Buddhism, 
according  to  the  regulation  laid  down  by  the  Buddha.3 
In  the  Sutta  Nipata,  a  collection  of  seventy  didactic 
poems  belonging  to  the  Pitakas,  or  sacred  books  of  the 
southern  Buddhists,  Eight  Precepts  or  Moral  Com- 
mandments are  enumerated.  Five  of  these  are  bind- 
ing on  every  Buddhist,  whether  mendicant  or  layman, 
but  the  remaining  three  are  not  obligatory  for  the 


1  Sutta   Nipdta,    ii,    14,    26    (S. 
B.  E.,  x,  pt.  ii,  66). 

2  The  eighth  day  of  the  waning 
moon    (astaka)    is   distinctly   men- 
tioned  in   the  Vedas,   as   forming 
with  new  moon  and  full  moon  the 
regular  festival  periods.     Compare 
Atharva-Veda,    xv,    1 6,    2    (transl. 
W.  D.  Whitney,  p.  790) ;   Zimmer, 
op.  cit.,  p.  365 ;   H.  Oldenberg,  Die 
Religion    des    Veda,    Berlin,    1894, 
p.   439.     Of  these,   the   full-moon 
day  seems  to  have  enjoyed  most 
importance    (Oldenberg,   loc.    cit.), 
and  similarly  in  Buddhism.     Com- 
pare Mahd-Sudassana  Sutta,  i,  II  : 
"On  the  Sabbath  day,  on  the  day 
of  full  moon"  (S.  B.  E.,  xi,  251  sq.). 
Elsewhere  the  uposatha  service  is 
referred     particularly    to    the    fif- 
teenth day  of  the  month,  "it  being 
full  moon"  (Sutta  Nipdta,  iii,  12), 
proem.  (S.  B.  E.,  x,  pt.  ii,  131  sq.). 
In  very  early  times  the  Hindus  had 
named  and  deified  as  goddesses  the 
four    phases    of    the    moon.     See 
Rig-Veda,  ii,  32  (transl.  H.  Grass- 
mann,  i,  41) ;  Satapatha-Brdhmana, 


ix,  5,  i,  38  (S.  B.  E.,  xliii,  264); 
C.  Lassen,  Indische  Alterthums- 
kunde?  Leipzig  and  London,  1867- 
1874,  i,  986. 

3  Mahdvagga,  ii,  4,  1-2  (S.  B.  E., 
xiii,  246  sq.).  The  patimokkha  is 
one  of  the  oldest  parts  of  the 
Buddhist  canonical  compositions. 
The  Pali  version  has  been  translated 
in  full  by  Professors  Rhys  Davids 
and  Hermann  Oldenberg  (S.  B.  E., 
vol.  xiii)  and  the  part  for  monks, 
by  J.  F.  Dickson  (Journal  of  the 
Royal  Asiatic  Society,  1876,  n.s., 
viii,  62-130).  For  a  description 
of  these  ceremonies  as  witnessed 
March  27,  1893,  at  the  Malwatta 
monastery  in  Kandy  see  E.  M. 
Bowden,  "The  uposatha  and 
upasampadd  Ceremonies,"  ibid., 
1893,  n.s.,  xxv,  159-161.  Mr. 
Bowden  notes  that  at  the  Malwatta 
monastery  the  uposatha  service  is 
held  more  frequently  on  the  day 
which  precedes  the  new  and  the 
full  moon  than  on  the  new  and 
full-moon  days. 


158  REST  DAYS 

laity.  The  precepts  are:  (i)  not  to  destroy  life;  (2) 
not  to  commit  theft ;  (3)  not  to  tell  lies  ;  (4)  not  to 
drink  intoxicating  liquors  ;  (5)  not  to  indulge  in  unlaw- 
ful sexual  intercourse ;  (6)  not  to  eat  unseasonable 
food  at  night ;  (7)  not  to  wear  garlands  or  use  per- 
fumes ;  and  (8)  not  to  sleep  on  a  raised  couch.1  These 
precepts  are  said  to  constitute  the  eight-fold  fast,  or 
Uposatha,  declared  by  the  Buddha.  Their  special 
observance  on  the  uposatha  day  is  inculcated,  and  to 
break  any  of  them  on  that  day  is  considered  highly 
irreligious.  Instead  of  observing  lunar  taboos,  the 
Buddhists  were  to  keep  the  uposatha  by  a  special  fulfill- 
ment of  the  moral  law,  with  clean  garments  and  with 
clean  minds ;  one  of  the  many  instances  in  which  the 
founder  of  Buddhism  gave  a  spiritual  meaning  to  an 
earlier  superstitious  rite.  That  the  uposatha,  marked 
as  it  was  by  fasting,  avoidance  of  sexual  intercourse,  and 
refraining  from  wearing  wreaths  and  using  perfumes, 
should  have  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  rest  day  seems 
to  be  only  the  natural  result  of  its  observance  as  a  sea- 
son of  abstinence.  The  uposatha  is  thus  discovered 
among  the  earliest  institutions  of  Buddhism ;  in  its 
origin  it  could  have  owed  nothing  to  Jewish  or  Chris- 
tian influence  ;  in  its  diffusion  throughout  southeastern 
Asia  it  appears  to  have  remained  unaffected  by  the 
influence  of  Islam.  If  these  conclusions  be  accepted, 
the  Buddhist  Sabbath  dates  back,  remotely,  to  taboos 
observed  at  changes  of  the  moon. 

Buddhism  was  early  introduced  into  Ceylon.  The 
Sabbath  still  observed  there  by  the  Sinhalese  falls  on 
the  four  poya  days  of  the  month,  the  days  of  the  changes 

1  Sutta  Nipdta,  ii,  14,  19-26  I,  6,  4,  5  sqq.  (S.  B.  E.,  xii,  176  sqq.). 
(S.  B.  E.9  x,  pt.  ii,  65  sqq.}.  See  On  the  other  hand  the  last  precept 
also  T.  W.  Rhys  Davids,  Buddhism,  is  identical  with  one  of  the  regula- 
London,  1890,  pp.  137  sqq.;  Child-  tions  for  the  upavasatha,  where  the 
ers,  op.  cit.y  s.v.  silam.  The  prohi-  celebrant  is  distinctly  enjoined  to 
bition  of  drinking  intoxicating  sleep  on  the  ground  (or  a  shake- 
liquors  was  directed  against  the  down  of  grass,  a  blanket).  See 
ancient  soma  sacrifice  on  the  Satapatha-Brdhmana,  i,  I,  I,  II 
second  day  of  the  upavasatha  cere-  (S.  B.  E.,  xii,  6). 
mony.  See  Satapatha-Brdhmana, 


LI 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    159 

of  the  moon.1  Missionaries  from  Ceylon  carried  the 
new  faith  to  Burma,  at  least  as  early  as  the  fifth  cen- 
tury A.D.  According  to  an  old  traveller  the  "  eighth 
day  of  the  increasing  moon,  the  fifteenth  or  full  moon, 
the  eighth  of  the  decreasing  moon,  and  the  last  day  of 
the  moon,  are  religiously  observed  by  Birmans  (sic)  as 
sacred  festivals.  On  these  hebdomadal  holidays  no 
public  business  is  transacted  in  the  Rhoom  :  mercantile 
dealings  are  suspended ;  handicraft  is  forbidden ;  and 
the  strictly  pious  take  no  sustenance  between  the  ris- 
ing and  the  setting  of  the  sun ;  but  the  latter  instance 
of  self-denial  is  not  very  common,  and,  as  I  under- 
stood, is  rarely  practised,  except  in  the  metropolis, 
where  the  appearance  of  sanctity  is  sometimes  assumed 
as  a  ladder  by  which  the  crafty  attempt  to  climb  to 
promotion."  2  According  to  a  more  recent  and  sym- 
pathetic account  there  are  "four  ubone,  or  duty  days, 
in  every  lunar  month,  on  which  all  good  Burmans  are 
expected  to  go  and  worship  at  the  pagodas.  These 
are  the  eighth  of  the  crescent,  the  full  moon,  the  eighth 
of  the  waning,  and  the  change,  of  which  the  second  and 
the  fourth  are  the  more  sacred.  As  the  monks  have 
nothing  to  do  with  looking  after  the  spiritual  state  of 
the  people,  it  is  entirely  a  matter  to  be  settled  by  one's 
self  whether  any  particular  worship  day  is  to  be  ob- 

1  Mahony,  in  Asiatic  Researches,  unlucky   days    (vitti)    as  well,   are 

1803,  vii,  40  sq.;   Edward  Upham,  observed     with     abstinence    from 

Sacred    and    Historical    Books    of  agricultural      labour     (P.     Kehel- 

Ceylon,  London,  1833,  iii,  161  sqq.;  pannala,  in  Journal  of  the  Anthro- 

R.  S.  Hardy,  Eastern  Monachism,  pological      Institute,      1896,      xxv, 

London,  1850,  pp.  236  sqq.;   idem,  108). 

Manual  of  Buddhism?  London,  2  Michael  Symes,  An  Account  of 
1880,  pp.  22,  50,  52;  C.  F.  Koppen,  an  Embassy  to  the  Kingdom  of 
Die  Religion  des  Buddha  und  ihre  Ava,  London,  1800,  p.  335.  See 
Entstehung,  Berlin,  1857-1859,  i,  further  Hiram  Cox,  Journal  of  a 
563  sq.;  D.  J.  Gogerly,  "The  Laws  Residence  in  the  Burman  Empire, 
of  the  Buddhist  Priesthood,"  Jour-  London,  1821,  p.  241 ;  Sangermano, 
nal*  of  the  Ceylon  Branch  of  the  A  Description  of  the  Burmese  Em- 
Royal  Asiatic  Society,  1858-1859,  pire,  translated  by  W.  Tandy, 
iii,  253-261.  By  the  Kandian,  Rome,  1833,  p.  92;  C.  J.  F.  S. 
who  occupy  the  interior  of  Ceylon,  Forbes,  British  Burma,  London, 
not  only  the  poya  days,  but  all  1878,  pp.  169  sqq. 


160  REST  DAYS 

served  or  not.  If  you  conclude  that  strict  religious 
observances  are  only  necessary  for  your  spiritual  well- 
being  on  the  day  of  the  full  moon,  or  at  any  rate  that 
you  may  leave  out  the  eighth  of  the  crescent  and  wan- 
ing moon,  then  the  ubone  does  not  concern  you  at  all, 
and  you  may  proceed  about  your  ordinary  business 
without  being  considered  a  reprobate.  The  very 
devout  may  go  to  the  pagoda  on  all  the  four  sacred 
days  of  the  month ;  but  if  you  choose  to  omit  one  or 
several,  or  substitute  an  ordinary  day  for  that  pro- 
vided by  religious  custom,  there  is  no  one  to  take  you 
to  task  for  it.  Were  a  Burman  never  to  go  to  the  pa- 
goda at  all,  or  fail  to  do  so  for  any  considerable  time, 
he  would  indeed  soon  get  a  very  bad  character  among 
his  neighbours,  and  might  even  be  formally  excommuni- 
cated by  the  yahan.  There  is,  however,  practically 
no  constraint  save  the  force  of  public  opinion.  But 
the  duties  of  worship  are  so  light,  and  so  dependent  in 
their  details  upon  yourself,  and  there  is  so  much  amuse- 
ment to  be  got  out  of  a  visit  to  the  pagoda  on  an  ubone, 
that  few,  even  of  the  most  worldly-minded,  miss  any 
great  number  of  the  appointed  days,  and  a  special 
festival  is  always  carefully  observed.  ...  It  must 
not,  however,  be  supposed  that  all  the  people  take  this 
easy-going  and  frivolous  view  of  duty  days.  Diligent 
seekers  after  kutho  behave  very  differently.  They  do 
not  merely  limit  themselves  to  the  customary  forms  of 
worship  and  offerings.  They  sleep  little,  or  not  at 
all,  the  night  before ;  telling  their  beads  instead,  and 
reading  good  books,  some  of  the  discourses  of  the 
Buddha,  or  portions  of  the  greater  zat.  All  necessary 
business  is  transacted  the  day  previous  to  the  ubone, 
and  neighbours  are  exhorted  to  observe  the  festival 
properly.  After  one  simple  dish  in  the  morning,  they 
eat  nothing  for  the  rest  of  the  day ;  or  perhaps  on  cer- 
tain occasions  do  not  break  their  fast  till  after  mid- 
day, a  custom  very  general  on  the  first  day  of  Lent. 
Instead  of  staying  in  the  noisy  zayat,  where  the  assem- 
bled people  are  talking  of  light  matters,  laughing  and 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND    FESTIVALS     161 

diverting  themselves,  they  retire  to  a  tazaung  on  the 
pagoda  platform  or  to  some  place  shaded  by  trees ; 
there  they  finger  the  hundred  and  eight  beads  of  their 
rosary,  muttering,  'All  is  transient,  sorrowful,  and 
vain ;  the  Lord,  the  Law,  the  Assembly ;  the  three 
precious  things ' ;  and  meditate  on  the  example  of  the 
Lord  Buddha  and  the  excellence  of  his  Law.  To  vary 
the  monotony  of  this  performance,  they  go  for  an  hour 
or  two  to  one  of  the  monasteries  to  talk  with  the  prior 
or  some  learned  brother,  or  perhaps  to  hear  him  read 
and  expound  one  of  the  jataka,  or  birth-stories.  So  the 
duty  day  passes.  By  sunset  most  of  the  worshippers 
are  making  their  way  back  to  their  homes  ;  but  a 
few  zealous  spirits  remain  all  night  in  the  zayat,  and 
only  return  with  daylight  on  the  following  morning. 
This  simple  round  of  celebration  is  repeated  four  times 
in  every  lunar  month,  with  here  and  there  a  feast  day 
of  some  particular  shrine  thrown  in,  when  the  only 
difference  is  that  there  is  greater  ceremony  and  a  more 
or  less  large  influx  of  strangers,  according  to  the  sanc- 
tity of  the  pagoda."  * 

The  Siamese  Sabbath  (wan  phra)  was  also  an  insti- 
tution introduced  by  Buddhist  missionaries.  An  old 
writer  describes  it  as  follows  :  "  Their  Sunday,  called 
by  them  vampra,  is  always  the  fourth  day  of  the  moon  ; 
in  each  month  they  have  two  great  ones,  at  the  new 
and  full  moon,  and  two  less  solemn,  on  the  seventh 
and  twenty-first.  This  day  does  not  exempt  them 
from  labour,  since  only  fishing  is  forbidden  to  them. 
Those  who  transgress  this  prohibition  pay  a  fine  and 
are  thrown  into  prison,  as  having  profaned  the  sanctity 
of  the  day."  2  A  later  writer  declares  that  hunting 
is  also  forbidden,  and  adds  that  on  these  days  one  can- 

1  Shway  Yoe  [Sir  J.  G.  Scott],  Scott    and    Hardiman,    Rangoon, 

The  Burman:  his  Life  and  Notions?  1900,  pt.  i,  vol.  i,  p.  558). 

London,   1910,  pp.  217-220.     The  2  F.  H.  Turpin,  Histoire  civile  et 

Tungthu  of  Tenasserim  have  bor-  naturelle  du  royaume  de  Siam,  Paris, 

rowed  these  "duty  days"  from  the  1771,  i,  45  sq.    The  "fourth  day"  of 

Burmese  {Gazetteer  of  Upper  Burma  the  moon  must  here  be  counted  from 

and    the    Shan    States,    edited    by  the  astronomical  new  moon.     The 


162  REST  DAYS 

not  find  fresh  fish  and  meat  in  the  shops.1  In  former 
times  the  temples  were  crowded  with  worshippers, 
who  brought  their  offerings  and  listened  to  the  hymns, 
prayers,  and  moral  discourses  addressed  to  them  by 
the  Buddhist  priests.2  But  we  are  told  that  now  a 
majority  of  the  temples  stand  empty  on  the  wan  phray 
and  what  worshippers  there  are  consist  invariably 
of  women.  Since  the  adoption  of  the  solar  calendar 
in  1889  the  wan  phra  has  been  superseded  to  a  large 
extent  for  civil  purposes  by  Sunday.3  The  Buddhist 
Sabbath  is  also  found  in  Cambodia.4 

In  some  districts  of  Tibet  the  monthly  Buddhist 
festivals  (du-zang)  are  four  in  number,  following  the 
successive  phases  of  the  moon.  In  other  parts  of  the 
country  only  three  festivals  are  celebrated  —  at  new 
moon,  first  quarter,  and  full  moon.  On  these  days 
no  animal  food  ought  to  be  eaten  and  no  animal  killed ; 
those  who  break  this  rule  are  threatened  with  severe 
punishment  in  a  future  existence.  "To  abstain  from 
worldly  occupations  is,  however,  not  enacted,  and  as 
the  Buddhist  laymen  in  the  Himalaya  and  western 
Tibet  are  not  very  fond  of  passing  the  whole  day  in 
prayers  and  in  the  temples,  these  holy  days  are  not 
particularly  marked  in  the  habits  of  the  population."  5 
As  elsewhere  in  Buddhist  lands  the  new-moon  and  full- 

uposatha  in  Siam,  as  in  Ceylon  and  ings's  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and 

Burma,  falls  regularly  on  the  eighth  Ethics,  v,  885. 

and  fifteenth  days  of  the  waxing  4  J.     Moura,     Le    royaume    de 

moon  and  on  the  eighth  and  four-  Cambodge,     Paris,     1883,     i,     321. 

teenth  or  fifteenth  days  of  the  wan-  The  Malays  of  the  Malacca  Penin- 

ing  moon.  sula    regard    the    fourteenth    and 

1  J.  B.  Pallegoix,  Description  du  fifteenth  days  of  each  lunar  month 
royaume  Thai  ou  Siam,  Paris,  1854,  as   unlucky.     On   these   two   days 
i,  249.  no  work  in  the  rice  fields  is  allowed, 

2  John  Crawfurd,  Journal  of  an  a  prohibition  which  only  increases 
Embassy,    London,    1830,    ii,    75;  the    native    tendency    to    laziness 
Sir  John  Bowring,  The  Kingdom  and  (C.    O.    Blagden,    "Notes    on    the 
People  of  Siam,  London,   1857,  i,  Folk-lore  and  Popular  Religion  of 
158.  the  Malays,"  Journal  of  the  Straits 

3  J.  G.  D.  Campbell,  Siam  in  the  Branch  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society? 
Twentieth   Century,   London,    1904,  1896,  no.  29,  p.  6). 

p.   224  n.1',   G.   E.   Gerini,  "Festi-  8  E.  Schlaginweit,  Buddhism  in 

vals  and  Fasts  (Siamese),"  Hast-      Tibet,  Leipzig  and  London,  1863,  p.  237. 


™ 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS     163 

moon  Sabbaths  are  of  most  importance,  since  on  these 
occasions  the  patimokkha  is  recited  in  the  monasteries, 
accompanied  by  a  public  confession  of  sins.1  How- 
ever, in  Tibet  there  appears  never  to  have  been  much 
uniformity  as  to  the  times  for  the  observance  of  the 
uposatha,  the  practice  varying  with  different  provinces 
and  sects.2  In  Bhutan,  where  Buddhism  was  intro- 
duced by  missionaries  from  Tibet,  the  eighth,  four- 
teenth, twenty-fourth,  and  thirtieth  of  the  month  are 
said  to  be  the  holy  days,  while  the  Mongolians  have  the 
thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and  fifteenth,  the  three  days 
being  brought  together  perhaps  because  of  the  great 
distance  which  separates  the  monasteries  from  the 
temple.3  Among  the  Kalmucks  on  the  Volga,  to  the 
north  of  the  Caspian,  the  uposatha  is  generally  observed 
thrice  a  month  —  the  eighth  day  after  new  moon,  the 
fifteenth,  and  the  thirtieth.4 

The  uposatha  is  not  unknown  among  the  Buddhists 
of  China.  The  Chinese  Ts'ing-kwei,  or  "Regulations 
of  the  Priesthood,"  a  Buddhist  document,  enumerates, 
among  others,  four  festivals  to  be  kept  each  month,  at 
new  moon  and  full  moon,  and  on  the  eighth  and  twenty- 
third  days.  These  are  called  kin-ming  s'i-chai,  "the 
four  feasts  illustriously  decreed";  they  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  variant  of  the  uposatha*  Among  non- 
Buddhists  there  is  another  custom  of  observing  on 
the  new  and  full  moon  of  each  month  a  ceremony, 
anciently  in  honour  of  the  moon,  but  now  particularly 

1  L.    A.    Waddell,    The  Buddh-  3  Koppen,  op.  cit.,  i,  564. 

ism  of  Tibet,  or  Lamaism,  London,  4  P.  S.   Pallas,  Reise  durch  ver- 

1895,  p.  501 ;    W.  W.  Rockhill,  in  schiedene  Provinzen  des  russischen 

Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  Reichs,  Frankfort,  1776,  i,  295. 
1891,  n.s.,  xxiii,  207  w.8  5  Joseph  Edkins,  Chinese  Buddh- 

2  Marco  Polo  refers  to  five  days  ism?  London,    1893,    p.    206.     In 
or  four  days  or  three  days  in  each  Buddhist     monasteries     the    pati- 
month  when  the  lamas  or  clergy  of  mokkha  is  regularly  recited  at  new 
Tibetan  Buddhism  shed  no  blood  moon   and   full   moon.     The   cere- 
and  abstain  from  animal  food  (Sir  mony  is  known  as  posadha  (J.  J. 
Henry    Yule,     The    Book    of    Ser  M.     de     Groot,     "Buddhism     in 
Marco  Polo,3  London,  1903,  i,  220,  China,"    Hastings's    Encyclopedia 
223).      Compare    N.    Prejevalsky,  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  iii,  554). 
Mongolia,  London,  1876,  i,  65. 


164  REST  DAYS 

addressed  to  various  deities,  especially  the  gods  of 
wealth.  It  was  formerly  the  rule  to  sacrifice  a  bullock 
to  the  moon  at  this  time.  During  the  festival  the 
courts  of  justice  and  yaman,  or  government  residences, 
are  closed.  Offerings  are  made  in  the  Confucian  tem- 
ples, and  even  the  family  gods  receive  their  meed  of 
worship.  The  householder  on  this  day  enjoys  a  better 
meal  than  usual,  without,  however,  intermitting  his 
ordinary  occupations.1  There  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  this  Chinese  festival  owes,  anything  to  contact 
with  Buddhism.  Its  independent  origin,  in  connec- 
tion with  an  early  cult  of  the  moon  and  perhaps  at  a 
remote  period  with  various  lunar  taboos,  becomes, 
therefore,  something  more  than  a  conjecture. 

The  Buddhist  Sabbath  penetrated  to  Japan.  An 
old  writer  tells  us  that  in  Japan  there  are  three  monthly 
holidays  connected  with  the  moon,  though  now  im- 
movable feasts.  "The  first  is  called  isitatz,  and  is  the 
first  day  of  each  month.  It  deserves  rather  to  be  called 
a  day  of  compliments  and  mutual  civilities,  than  a 
church  or  Sunday."  The  second  holiday  is  on  the 
fifteenth  of  each  month,  "being  the  day  of  the  full 
moon.  The  gods  of  the  country  have  a  greater  share 
in  the  visits  the  Japanese  make  on  this  day,  than  their 
friends  and  relations."  The  third  festival  occurs  on 
the  twenty-eighth  of  each  month,  "being  the  day  of 
the  new  moon,  or  the  last  day  of  the  decreasing  moon. 
Not  near  so  much  regard  is  had  to  this,  than  there  is 
to  either  of  the  two  former,  and  the  Sintos  [Shinto] 
temples  are  very  little  crowded  on  it.  There  is  a 
greater  concourse  of  people  on  this  day  at  the  Budsos 
[Buddhist]  temples,  it  being  one  of  the  monthly  holi- 
days sacred  to  Amida."  2 

Buddhism  and  Brahmanism,  spreading  beyond  the 


1 J.   H.   Gray,    China,   London,       The    Celestial    and    his    Religions, 
3,  i,  263  n.1;  C.  Pitou,  La  Chine,      Hongkong,  1906,  p.  25  ;   J.  Edkins, 
Lausanne      and       Paris       [1902],       Religion  in  China?  London,  1878, 


1878,  i,  263  n.1;  C.  Pitou,  La  Chine,      Hongkong,  1906,  p.  25  ;   J.  Edkins, 

a:  902],       Religion  in  China?  Londoi 
rube,       pp.  48  sq. 


Religion  und  Kultus  der  Chine  sen,  2  E.  Kaempfer,  History  of  Japan, 

Leipzig,   1910,  p.  66;    J.  D.   Ball,       ii,  21  sq.  (Glasgow  reprint,  1906). 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS     165 

confines  of  continental  Asia,  carried  the  custom  of 
keeping  lunar  festivals  into  some  parts  of  Indonesia. 
In  Bali,  where  the  padanda,  or  Brahmans,  have  pre- 
served many  features  of  the  old  Vedic  religion,  fasts 
and  sacrifices  are  still  obligatory  on  the  householder  at 
new  moon  and  full  moon.1  In  Kar  Nicobar  Buddhist 
influence  from  Burma  is  seen  in  the  custom  of  observ- 
ing a  rest  day  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  moon,  at  full 
moon,  and  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  the  moon,  but 
only  during  seven  lunar  months  of  the  year.2  The 
Nicobarese  have  given  to  this  imported  Buddhist 
Sabbath  their  native  name  anoiila,  which  is  regularly 
applied  to  the  rest  days  or  holidays  observed  by  them 
on  various  critical  occasions.3 

We  pass  now  from  the  lunar  festivals  found  in  ancient 
and  modern  India  and  in  those  countries  of  southeastern 
Asia  which  have  been  long  affected  by  the  cultural  influ- 
ence of  India  to  similar  observances  among  peoples 
of  archaic  civilization.  The  ancient  Iranians  appear 
to  have  celebrated  four  lunar  days  in  each  month, 
for  the  oldest  part  of  the  Avesta  contains  the  following 
passage:  "I  dedicate,  I  perform  (the  sacrifice)  for  the 
month  (gods),  the  time-divisions  of  Asa,  for  the  be- 
tween-moon  [i.e.,  the  new  moon],  .  .  .  for  the  full 
moon,  and  for  the  intervening  seventh(s),"  in  other 
words,  for  the  first,  eighth,  fifteenth,  and  twenty-third 
days,  which  were  all  dedicated  to  Ahura  Mazda.4 

1  R.    Friederich,    in   Journal   of  Solomon,  in  Journal  of  the  Anthro- 
the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  1876,  n.s.,  pological  Institute,  1902,  xxxii,  204, 
viii,    197    sq.     Most    priests    also  213;    W.  Svoboda,  in    Internatio- 
observe   with    prayer   and    fasting  nates  Archiv  fiir  Ethnographic,  1893, 
every   fifth    day    (kaliwon)    of  the  vi,  22. 

Javanese    five-day    market    week,  3  Above,  pp.  40  sqq. 

which    has    been    introduced    into  4  Yasna,  i,  8   (so  also  ibid.,  ii, 

Bali  (Friederich,  loc.  cit.}.  8;    compare    Vast   vii,  4).     See  L. 

2  E.   H.   Man,   in  Indian  Anti-  H.    Gray,    "Festivals    and    Feasts 
quary,    1897,    xxvi,    269    w.30     Ac-  (Iranian),"    Hastings's   Encyclopa- 
cording  to  this  account  the  Nico-  dia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  v,  872 ; 
barese   do   not  observe  new-moon  L.  H.  Mills,  in  Sacred  Books  of  the 
ceremonies.        Other      authorities,  East,  xxxi,   198,  205 ;    W.  Geiger, 
however,    refer    to    sacrifices    and  Civilization  of  the  Eastern  Iranians, 
celebrations  at  this  time.     See  V.  London,     1885,    i,    146    n.1      The 


166  REST  DAYS 

The  choice  of  these  four  lunar  days  was  due  to  the 
division  of  the  Avesta  thirty-day  month  into  two  un- 
equal parts,  containing  fourteen  and  sixteen  days,  re- 
spectively, and  to  the  further  subdivision  of  each  part 
so  as  to  form  two  groups  of  seven  days  and  two  of 
eight  days.  This  arrangement  had  the  practical  ad- 
vantage of  permitting  a  quadripartite  division  of  the 
month  without  a  remainder.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  the  four  groups  formed  civil  weeks,  or  that  the 
first  day  of  each  group  was  observed  as  a  Sabbath.1 

Although  the  Egyptians  had  abandoned  the  old 
lunar  year  and  lunar  month,  perhaps  as  early  as  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  millenium  B.C.,  the  people 
continued  for  many  centuries  to  observe  as  festivals 
the  first  and  fifteenth  days  of  the  month.  In  the  earlier 
calendar  these  would  have  coincided  with  the  two  sig- 
nificant epochs  of  the  lunation,  namely,  new  moon  and 
full  moon.  The  "monthly  feasts"  and  the  " half- 
monthly  feasts"  are  mentioned  in  the  very  ancient 
texts  preserved  in  the  pyramids  at  Sakkara  of  kings 

term   vishaptatha,    here   translated  been  composed  in  Persia  during  the 

"the   intervening   seventh"    refers  fourth  century  A.D.,  which  mentions 

to   the   seventh   day   between   the  among  other  matters  five  days  in 

new  moon   (on  the   ist)    and   the  every    month,    namely,    the    ist, 

full  moon  (on  the  I5th),  that  is,  7th,  I4th,  22d,  and  3Oth,  as  times 

to  the  8th  day  of  the  month  (E.  to  be  observed  by  abstinence  from 

Bartholomae,  Altiranisches  Worter-  all  worldly  business.     The   manu- 

buch,  Strassburg,  1904,  col.   1472).  script  sets  forth  in  detail  the  pe- 

The  theories  as  to  the  meaning  of  culiar  virtues  of  all  the  days  of  one 

vishaptatha,  advanced   by  J.   Dar-  of  the  Zoroastrian  months.     "Some 

mesteter,  have  not  won  the  accept-  are  best  for  beginning  a  journey  or 

ance  of  scholars  (Sacred  Books  of  voyage,  others   for  the  regulation 

the  East,  xxiii,  90  n.6;    Le  Zend-  of  matters  of  domestic  economy, 

Avesta,    Paris,     1892—1893,    i,     12  some    again    for   social   gatherings 

n.34).  and    festivities,    and   others    again 

1  R.   Roth,  "Der  Kalender  des  for  the  pursuit  of  learning,  while 

Avesta       und      die      sogenannten  not  a  few  are  reserved  for  rest  and 

gahanbar,"  Zeitschrift  der  deutschen  pious  contemplation."     These  pre- 

morgenldndischen  Gesellschaft,  1880,  cepts  are  no  longer  observed;    in 

xxxiv,    710;     L.    H.    Gray,    "Der  fact,    their   very   existence   is    un- 

iranische    Kalender,"    Geiger    and  known  to  most  Parsis  at  the  pres- 

Kuhn's    Grundriss    der    iranischen  ent  day.     See  D.  F.  Karaka,  His- 

Philologie,    ii,    675    sq.     There    is  tory  of  the  Parsis,  London,  1884,  i, 

extant  a  Pehlevi  tract,  said  to  have  132  sqq. 


L 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    167 

of  the  Sixth  Dynasty.1  They  are  referred  to  in  the 
Book  of  the  Dead,  in  the  directions  requiring  special 
chapters  of  that  work  to  be  recited  on  the  first  day  of 
the  month,  apparently  when  it  coincides  with  new 
moon,  and  on  the  last  day  of  the  sixth  month  of  the 
Egyptian  year,  when  that  day  coincides  with  the  full 
moon.2  That  they  were  practised  under  the  Twelfth 
Dynasty  appears  clearly  from  the  well-known  inscrip- 
tion of  Khnumhotep  II,  cut  on  the  walls  of  the  chapel 
chamber  in  his  tomb  at  Benihasan.  Khnumhotep 
II,  a  local  ruler  of  the  sixteenth  nome  in  Upper  Egypt, 
sets  forth  in  this  inscription  a  somewhat  vainglorious 
account  of  his  buildings  and  his  piety.  Among  other 
things  he  says,  "I  endowed  him  [the  mortuary  priest] 
with  fields  and  peasants ;  I  commanded  the  mortuary 
offering  of  bread,  beer,  oxen,  and  geese,  at  every  feast 
of  the  necropolis  :  at  the  feast  of  the  first  of  the  year,  of 
New  Year's  Day,  of  the  great  year,  of  the  little  year, 
of  the  last  of  the  year,  the  great  feast,  at  the  great 
Rekeh,  at  the  little  Rekeh,  at  the  feast  of  the  five  inter- 
calary days,  at ,  at  the  twelve  monthly 

feasts,  at  the  twelve  mid-monthly  feasts  ;  every  feast  of 
the  happy  living,  and  of  the  dead."  3  Again,  there  is 
an  explicit  reference  to  new-moon  festivals  under  the 
Thirteenth  Dynasty  in  a  celebrated  inscription  placed 
by  Thothmes  III  (1501-1447  B.C.)  on  the  walls  of  the 
great  temple  of  Amon  at  Karnak.  This  inscription 
describes  the  numerous  campaigns  made  by  the  Egyp- 

1  Pyramid  Texts,  §  521  (  =  Teti,  translated    by   E.    A.   W.    Budge, 
I.     12);      compare     ibid.,     §  1453  London,  1898,  pp... 218,  230).    See 
(  =  Pepi,  1.  657  =  Mernere,  11.  763-  also  H.  Brugsch,  "Uber  die  Hiero- 
764).     Professor  J.  H.  Breasted  of  glyphe  des   Neumondes    und   ihre 
the  University  of  Chicago  has  very  verschiedenen  Bedeutiingen,"  Zeit- 
kindly  furnished  me  with  a  trans-  schrift     der    deutschen    morgenldn- 
lation  of  these  passages,  based  on  dischen  Gesellschaft,  1856,  x,  676. 
the    monumental    edition    of    the  3  J.  H.  Breasted,  Ancient  Records 
texts  prepared   by  K.   Sethe   (Die  of  Egypt,  Chicago,  1906,  i,  285.     See 
altdgyptischen  Pyramidentexte,  Leip-  further   E.   Mahler,  Etudes  sur  le 
zig,  1908-1910).  calendrier    egyptien,     Paris,     1907, 

2  The  Book  of  the  Dead  (Theban  p.    128;     idem,    in    Zeitschrift   der 
Recension),    chs.    cxxxv,    cxl    (The  deutschen    morgenldndischen    Gesell- 
Chapters  of  Coming  Forth  by  Day,  schaft,  1908,  Ixii,  35. 


i68  REST  DAYS 

tian  king  in  Syria.  The  account  of  the  battle  of 
Megiddo  opens  as  follows:  "Year  23,  first  (month)  of 
the  third  season  (ninth  month),  on  the  twenty-first 
day,  the  day  of  the  feast  of  the  new  moon,  correspond- 
ing to  the  royal  coronation,  early  in  the  morning,  behold, 
command  was  given  to  the  entire  army  to  move."  1 
The  significance  of  this  lunar  festival  is  further  set 
forth  in  the  inscriptions  on  the  ceiling  of  the  pronaos  of 
the  temple  of  Dendera,  where  the  phases  of  the  moon  are 
portrayed  together  with  other  astronomical  matters/ 
The  thirty  days  of  the  month  are  here  given  their 
eponymic  names  and  are  arranged  in  two  divisions, 
according  as  they  belong  to  the  decreasing  or  to  the 
increasing  moon.  Four  lunar  days  are  brought  into 
special  prominence  as  associated  with  the  chief  phases 
of  the  moon,  viz.,  1st  lunar  day  =  "festival  of  new 
moon";  yth  lunar  day  =  "festival  of  the  first  quar- 
ter"; i^th  lunar  day  =  "festival  of  the  fifteenth," 
and  23d  lunar  day  =  "festival  of  the  third  quarter." 
In  this  inscription  full  moon  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  lunar 
month,  repeatedly  mentioned  in  poetical  terms  as  "the 
eye  of  the  moon,"  seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  the 
most  significant  of  the  lunar  phases.2  The  oldest 
traces  of  this  important  list  of  lunar  days  belong  to  the 
Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  dynasties ;  the  latest 
date  from  Ptolemaic  and  Roman  times.3  The  evidence, 
then,  fully  warrants  the  conclusion  that  from  the  ear- 
liest period  the  Egyptians  included  the  celebrations  at 
new  moon  and  full  moon  among  the  most  important 
of  their  religious  ceremonies.4  In  late  classical  times 
the  lunar  festivals  appear  to  have  been  consecrated  to 
Osiris,  whose  identification  with  the  moon  is  reason- 

1  Breasted,  op.  cit.,  ii,  184;    for  3  Brugsch,  Thesaurus,  pt.  i,  52; 
an  earlier  translation  see  S.  Birch,       idem,  Agyptologie,  p.  332. 

in  Records  of  the  Past,  ii,  43.  4  Compare     idem,     Agyptologie, 

2  H.  Brugsch,  Thesaurus  ins  crip-  p.    334;    E.    Meyer,  "Agyptische 
tionum      jEgyptiacarum,      Leipzig,  Chronologic,"     Abhandlungen     der 
1883—1891,  pt.  i,  30  sqq.y   49  sqq.;  koniglich-preussisc hen  Akademie  der 
idem,     Die     Agyptologie,     Leipzig,  Wissenschaften,  1904,  p.  7. 

1891,  pp.  332  sq. 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS    169 

ably  certain.1  But  to  what  extent,  if  any,  they  were 
accompanied  by  the  imposition  of  taboos  remains 
problematical. 

The  evidence  for  lunar  rites  among  the  Greeks  must 
be  pieced  together  from  scattered  references  in  the 
classical  writers.  The  day  of  the  visible  new  moon 
(vovpyvia),  marking  the  beginning  of  the  lunar  month, 
appears  to  have  been  ceremonially  observed  through- 
out the  Greek  world.2  The  Noumenia  was  particularly 
associated  with  Apollo  and  also  with  Hera,  a  goddess 
who  seems  to  have  had  an  ancient  role  as  a  moon  deity. 
The  antiquity  of  the  Noumenia  may  be  judged  from 
the  references  to  it  in  the  Odyssey,  where  no  other 
general  festival  than  that  of  Apollo  is  mentioned.  In 
the  island  of  Ithaca  a  feast  of  Apollo  on  the  new-moon 
day  was  in  progress  at  the  time  of  the  trial  of  Odysseus's 
bow.  Is  it  not  the  holy  day  of  Apollo,  ask  the  suitors  ? 
Who  on  such  a  day  could  stretch  the  bow  ?  3  The  first 
of  the  month  is  holy,  declares  Hesiod.4  In  Athens, 
and  doubtless  in  other  Greek  cities,  the  Noumenia  con- 
tinued to  be  in  historic  times  a  day  of  repose,  when  all 
public  activities,  except  of  a  religious  character,  were 
intermitted.5  Private  business,  however,  was  not  sus- 
pended on  the  Noumenia ;  the  markets,  especially 
those  for  the  purchase  of  slaves,  were  then  particularly 

1  Herodotus,    ii,    47 ;     Plutarch,  astronomical   new  moon  (Thucyd- 

De    hide    et    Osiride,    8,    43,    52;  ides,  ii,  28). 
Frazer,   Adonis,   Attis,   Osiris?   ii,  3  Odyssey,  xxi,  258  sq. : 

129-131;     Budge,    Osiris    and   the  vvv  /no/  yap  Kara  8rjfj.ov  eoprrj  rolo  Otoio 

Egyptian  Resurrection,  i,   384-396.  ayvi;  •  TIS  8e  KC  ro£a  nraiVoir'  ; 

2J.     Meursius,    GrcBcia    feriata,  Compare   ibid.,   xiv,    158-162,   xx, 

sive   de  festis   Gr&corum,    Lugduni  156,  276-278. 
Batavorum,     1619,    pp.     210-214;  4  Opera  et  dies,  770. 

F.  G.  Welcker,  Griechische  Cotter-  5  Aristophanes,  Nubes,  615^619; 

lehre,  Gottingen,   1857,  i,  554  sq. ;  idem,      Acharnenses,     999;      idem, 

W.   H.   Roscher,   Uber  Selene  und  Vespce,    96;      Demosthenes,     Adv. 

Ferwandtes,  pp.  1 10  sq. ;    idem,  in  Aristogiton,  i,  99 ;  Athenaeus,  Deip- 

Philologus,  1898,  Ivii,  216,  218;    E.  nosophista,  xii,  76 ;  Plutarch,  Quas- 

Saglio,    "Noumenia,"    Daremberg  tiones  Romance,  25  ;  idem,  De  vitando 

and  Saglio's  Dictionnaire  des  anti-  cere  alieno,  2;    Porphyry,  De  absti- 

quites  grecques  et  romaines,  iv,  108.  nentia,  ii,i6;  Theophrastus,  Charac- 

The     word     votyx^vta     occasionally  teres,  14;    Lucian,    Icaromenippus9 

was  used  in  the  sense  of  the  true  or  13  ;    idem,  Lexiphanes,  6. 


170  REST  DAYS 

frequented  ;  the  time  was  regarded  as  the  most  favour- 
able for  marriage ;  and  in  the  homes  there  was  much 
feasting  and  good  cheer.1  The  Dichomenia  (St^o/i^j/ia), 
or  full-moon  day,  appears  also  to  have  been  a  regular 
monthly  festival  in  Greece,  though  of  lesser  impor- 
tance than  the  Noumenia.2 

The  Roman  month  was  originally  lunar,  and  at 
all  periods  was  divided  by  the  real  or  imaginary  phases 
of  the  moon.  The  Kalends,  or  day  of  the  visible  new 
moon,  were  sacred  to  Juno,  a  goddess,  who,  like  the 
Greek  Hera,  was  particularly  associated  with  the  moon.3 
On  the  Kalends  one  of  the  pontiffs  performed  a  sacri- 
fice, with  the  assistance  of  the  rex  sacrorum*  Pious 
Romans  also  celebrated  the  new-moon  day  with  offer- 
ings and  prayers  to  the  family  gods.5  The  Ides,  or 
day  of  the  full  moon,  were  consecrated  to  Jupiter,  but 
the  Nones,  which  may  originally  have  marked  the 
moon's  first  quarter,  were  not  sacred  to  any  deity.6 
The  Kalends  of  March,  June,  and  October,  the  Nones 
of  July,  and  the  Ides  of  all  the  months  were  numbered 
among  the  feria  publicce,  or  sacred  festivals  attended 
by  a  compulsory  remission  of  labour,  of  the  Roman 
state  religion.7 

The  taboos  which  at  Rome  invested  the  lunar  phases 
appear  to  have  lingered  into  the  historic  age  under  yet 
another  guise.  Among  the  unlucky  days  (dies  reli- 
giosi 8)  of  the  Roman  calendar  were  those  following 
the  Kalends,  Nones,  and  Ides.  The  thirty-six  dies 

1  Aristophanes,      Vespce,      171 ;  3  Above,  p.  130. 

idem,  Equites,  43  sq.;    Alciphron,  4  Macrobius,  Saturnalia,  i,  15,  9. 

Epistola,    iii,    38;     Porphyry,    De  5Ovid,  Fasti,  i,  47;    Plutarch, 

abstinentia,    ii,    129;     Proclus,    on  Qucsstiones    Romanes,    24;     Vergil, 

Hesiod,  Opera  et  dies,  780;   Suidas,  Bucolica,  i,  43  sq.;    Horace,  Car- 

s.v.   vovfjirjvui    (ed.    G.    Bernhardy,  mina,  iii,  23,  i  sq. 

Halle,  1853,  ii,  1010).  6  Macrobius,  op.  cit.,  i,  15,  15; 

z  Hymni    Homerici,    xxxii,    n;  Ovid, ,  op.  cit.,  i,  48  sq.;  Lydus,  De 

Plutarch,  De  gloria  Atheniensis,  7 ;  mensibus,  iii,  7. 

idem,  Dion,  23.     Hesiod  (op.  cit.,  7  Wissowa,  Religion  und  Kultus 

819,   compare   794  sqq.}    describes  der   Romer,   p.    369;     compare  T. 

the  1 4th  of  the  month  as  "above  all  Mommsen,  in  Corpus  inscriptionum 

a    holy    day"    (TTC/OI    TTCIVTWV    icpov  Latinarum,  i,  pt.  i,2  297. 

8  Above,  pp.  80  sq.,  94. 


LUNAR  SUPERSTITIONS  AND   FESTIVALS     171 

postriduani  were  regarded  as  unsuitable  for  many  pur- 
poses, both  public  and  private :  for  battles,  levies, 
sacred  rites,  journeys,  and  marriages.1  We  are  told 
that  they  owed  their  unlucky  quality  to  a  pronounce- 
ment of  the  Senate  and  pontiffs,  in  consequence  of  the 
grave  defeat  of  the  Allia  on  the  i8th  of  Quinctilis 
(July).  According  to  the  story  preserved  by  Gellius 
one  of  the  senators  publicly  declared  that  on  the  day 
following  the  Ides  the  Roman  commander  had  per- 
formed sacred  rites  with  a  view  to  engaging  the  Gauls, 
only  to  experience  an  overwhelming  defeat  two  days 
later.  Many  other  senators  called  to  mind  that  on 
sundry  occasions,  when  sacrifices  on  the  day  following 
the  Kalends,  Nones,  or  Ides  had  been  performed  to 
secure  the  favour  of  the  gods  in  battle,  not  victory  but 
disaster  followed.  In  consequence  these  days  were 
declared  unfit  for  public  sacrifices.2  It  is  obvious 
that  this  traditional  explanation  of  the  dies  postri- 
duani must  be  far  from  the  real  truth.  Unlucky  days 
are  not  generated  in  such  an  artificial  fashion  or  on  so 
wholesale  a  scale.  We  may  with  some  confidence 
regard  the  prohibitions  accompanying  these  days  as 
real  survivals  of  primitive  taboos  at  new  moon,  first 
quarter,  and  full  moon,  their  assumed  historic  signif- 
icance being  only  the  conscious  fiction  of  a  later  and 
more  sophisticated  age.3 

1  Varro,  De  lingua  Latina,  29 ;  day  before  the  Nones  of  the  month 

Ovid,  Fasti,  i,  59  sq.;  Livy,  vi,  i;  Sextilis  (Gellius,  op.  cit.,  v,  17,  3). 

Plutarch,  Qucestiones  Romance,  2$ ;  2  Verrius    Flaccus,    ap.    Gellius, 

Gellius,    Nodes   Attica,    iv,    9,    5;  op.  cit.,  v,  17;   Macrobius,  op.  cit., 

Macrobius,   Saturnalia,   i,    16,    18.  i,  16,  21. 

These  days  were  also  described  as  3  On  this  point  I  am  happy  to 
atri  vel  vitiosi.  The  greater  num-  find  myself  in  agreement  with  Dr. 
ber  of  them  were  available  for  W.  Warde  Fowler,  who  also  regards 
judicial  business,  but  not  for  the  traditional  explanation  of  the 
meetings  of  the  assemblies  (dies  dies  postriduani  as  an  aetiological 
jasti  non  comitiales) .  Many  Ro-  myth.  "The  fact  that  the  authori- 
mans  also  regarded  as  ominous  the  ties  of  the  state  had  made  one  or 
fourth  day  before  the  Kalends,  two  days  religiosi  as  anniversaries 
Nones,  and  Ides;  according  to  one  of  disasters,  supplied  a  handy  ex- 
account  because  the  battle  of  planation  for  a  number  of  other 
Cannae  took  place  on  the  fourth  dies  religiosi  of  which  the  true  ex- 


172  REST  DAYS 

The  scanty  records  on  which  we  must  rely  for  our 
knowledge  of  the  heathen  inhabitants  of  central  and 
northern  Europe,  before  they  came  into  contact  with 
Rome  and  Christianity,  furnish  no  certain  evidence 
that  they  celebrated  lunar  festivals.  According  to 
Strabo  the  Celtiberians  and  their  neighbours  to  the 
north  sacrificed  every  full  moon  to  a  nameless  god,  the 
ceremony  taking  place  at  night  and  being  accompanied 
by  dancing.1  Again,  Tacitus,  who  mentions  the  cus- 
tom of  the  Germans  of  holding  their  assemblies  on 
"fixed  days"  (certi  dies),  either  at  the  new  moon  or  the 
full  moon,  also  refers  to  the  certi  dies  on  which  they 
think  it  lawful  to  propitiate  Mercury,  their  chief  god, 
with  human  sacrifices.2  Such  statements  may  mean 
much  or  little.  Having  traced  lunar  festivals  among 
the  Aryans  of  India,  the  Iranians,  the  Greeks,  and  the 
Romans,  it  might  reasonably  be  supposed  that  the 
Celts  and  Germans  were  also  familiar  with  them. 

But  the  festive  observance  of  the  two  great  epochs 
of  the  lunation  was  by  no  means  confined  in  antiquity 
to  Indo-Germanic  peoples.  The  Chinese  and  Egyptian 
festivals  at  new  moon  and  full  moon  reach  back  into 
the  past  as  far  as  the  historical  eye  can  follow  them ; 
while  in  Semitic  lands,  as  we  shall  learn,  the  same  rites 
occupied  a  most  conspicuous  place  in  the  religious 
calendar.  Not  unjust  was  the  remark  of  Isidore  of 
Seville,  a  famous  scholar  of  the  Middle  Ages,  that  the 
ancients,  just  as  the  Hebrews,  were  accustomed  to 
celebrate  the  beginnings  of  all  the  months  —  apud 
veteres  enim  omnium  mensium  principia  colebantur, 
sicut  et  apud  Hebrceos* 

Elanation  had  been  entirely  lost;  the   suggestion    in    the    text    that 

ut   that   there   was   such   a   true  these  days  were  originally  tabooed 

explanation,  resting  on  very  prim-  in   consequence  of  lunar  supersti- 

itive    beliefs,    I    have    very    little  tions  attaching  to  them, 

doubt'*   (The  Religious  Experience  1  Geographica,  iii,  4,  16. 

of  the  Roman  People,  London,  1911,  2  Germania,  9,  n. 

p.    40).     Dr.    Fowler    in    a    letter  3  Isidorus  Hispalensis,  Etymolo* 

(under  date  Dec.  9,  1911)  tells  me  gics  sive  origines,  v,  33. 
that  he  regards  as  "quite  probable" 


CHAPTER  VI 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK 

THE  calendar  forms  one  of  the  most  important  of 
social  institutions  and  registers  in  its  gradual  improve- 
ment from  age  to  age  the  onward  march  of  culture. 
The  first  attempts  at  calendar-making  were  naturally 
of  the  rudest  sort,  for  they  were  based  on  the  untutored 
experience  and  observation  of  common  men.  With 
the  progress  of  society  the  regulation  of  calendrical 
matters  tended  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  sacerdotal 
class,  partly  because  priests  alone  enjoyed  the  leisure 
necessary  for  prolonged  researches,  but  chiefly  because 
the  calendar,  on  which  depends  the  orderly  sequence  of 
holy  days  and  festivals,  was  itself  an  affair  of  religion.1 

It  is  clear  that  the  alternations  of  night  and  day 
must  have  furnished  man  with  his  most  elementary 
conceptions  of  the  passage  of  time.  A  longer  cycle  was 
naturally  suggested  by  the  lunar  phenomena,  so  strik- 
ing, so  obvious,  and  marked  by  stages  so  readily  deter- 
mined. A  survey  of  the  anthropological  data  indi- 
cates that  among  savage  and  barbarous  peoples  the 
moon  is  the  measure  of  time,  and  that  the  period  of  a 
lunation  furnishes  the  customary  unit  for  longer  reckon- 


K.  Fotheringham,  "Calen- 
dar (Introductory),"  Hastings' s  En- 
cyclopedia of  Religion  and  Ethics, 
iii,  61-64;  F.  K.  Ginzel,  Handbuch 
der  mathematischen  und  technischen 
Chronologie,  Leipzig,  1906-1911,  ii, 
121-159;  E.  Meyer,  Geschichte  des 
Altertums,  Erster  Band,  Erste 
Halfte,  Berlin,  1907,  pp.  231-243; 
R.  Schram,  "Jahrform  und  Zeit- 


rechnung    verschiedener    Volker," 

Mitteilungen  der  kaiserlich-kbnig- 
lichen  geographischen  Gesellschaft  in 
Witn,  1884,,  xxvii,  481-498;  M. 
Hubert,  "Etude  sommaire  de  la 
representation  du  temps  dans  la 
religion  et  la  magie,"  in  Hubert 
and  Mauss,  Melanges  d'histoire  des 
religions,  Paris,  1909,  pp.  189- 
229. 


173 


174 


REST  DAYS 


ings.1  Lunar  months  are  general  throughout  Aus- 
tralia, Melanesia,  Polynesia,  Africa,  and  America, 
wherever  primitive  calendars  have  not  been  supplanted 
by  more  refined  calculations  borrowed  from  advanced 
peoples.  The  computation  of  time  by  moons  naturally 
formed  the  basis  of  those  early  calendars  which  were 
framed  by  peoples  just  rising  into  civilization.  In 
Mexico  and  Yucatan  the  year  of  twelve  moon-months 
preceded  the  introduction  of  the  solar  year;  and  the 
ancient  Peruvians,  in  some  respects  so  advanced,  al- 
ways continued  to  reckon  by  the  succession  of  luna- 
tions.2 There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  solar  calendar 
in  use  among  the  Egyptians  at  the  very  dawn  of  their 
history  had  been  preceded  by  a  more  primitive  reckon- 
ing of  the  year  in  lunations.  It  is  enough  to  point 
out  in  this  connection  that  the  Egyptians  regularly 
employed  the  figure  of  a  crescent  moon  as  the  hiero- 
glyph for  " month."  3  The  calendars  of  Semitic  peo- 


1  The  lunar  or  synodic  month, 
determined  by  the  synodic  revolu- 
tion of  the  moon,  is  the  time  be- 
tween two  successive  conjunctions 
of  that  luminary  with  the  sun,  and 
may  be  measured  from  new  moon 
to  new  moon  or  from  full  to  full. 
It  varies  about  thirteen  hours  by 
reason  of  eccentricities  of  the 
moon's  orbit  and  of  that  of  the 
earth  about  the  sun,  but  its  mean 
value  is  29  days,  12  hours,  44  min- 
utes, and  3  seconds.  The  length 
of  the  "light  month,"  or  period  of 
the  moon's  visibility,  though  com- 
monly taken  at  three  days,  is  a 
variable  quantity.  It  is  the  usual 
practice  to  assume  that  the  moon 
becomes  visible  on  the  first  even- 
ing when  she  is  more  than  thirty 
hours  old  at  sunset.  Her  mean 
age  when  first  seen  is,  therefore, 

30  hours  +—   hours  =  I    day,  18 

hours.  See  J.  K.  Fotheringham, 
"On  the  Smallest  Visible  Phase  of 
the  Moon,"  Monthly  Notices  of  the 


Royal  Astronomical    Society,  1910, 
Ixx,  527-531. 

2  E.    J.    Payne,    History    of  the 
New  World  called  America,  Oxford, 
1892-1899,  ii,  329,  331 ;   E.  Forste- 
mann,  in  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology,  1904,  no.  28, 
p.  523   (Maya  pre-solar  calendar). 

3  Horapollo,"  Hieroglyphic  a,  i,  4 ; 
compare  H.  Brugsch,  in  Zeitschrift 
der  deutschen  morgenldndischen  Ge- 
sellschaft,    1856,    x,    676;    .C.    R. 
Lepsius,  Die  Chronologie  der  Agypter, 
Berlin,    1849,  i,   156  sq.,  219;    E. 
Meyer,  "Agyptische  Chronologic," 
Abhandlungen  der  koniglich-preussi- 
schen  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften, 
Berlin,  1904,  pp.  5  sqq.     Papyri  dis- 
covered by  Professor  W.  M.  Flin- 
ders Petrie  at  Kahun,  belonging  to 
the  age  of  Sesostris  III,  show  that 
a  lunar  year  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty-five  days  was  still  recognized 
as   late   as  the  Twelfth    Dynasty. 
These  papyri  relate  to  the  temple 
revenues,  which   the   priests,  with 
characteristic     religious     conserva- 


LUNAR   CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     175 

pies,  notably  those  of  the  Babylonians  and  Hebrews, 
were  based  on  the  moon ; 1  and  the  prophet  Mo- 
hammed, when  enjoining  on  his  followers  the  observ- 
ance of  the  pure  lunar  year,  in  place  of  the  lunisolar 
year  used  by  the  Arabians  before  the  Hegira,  was  in 
reality  reverting  to  a  still  more  primitive  mode  of 
counting  time.  Lunisolar  calendars,  in  which  the 
primary  unit  is  the  lunation,  were  known,  long  before 
the  Christian  era,  to  every  civilization  in  the  Old 
World  from  the  Roman  in  the  west  to  the  Chinese  in 
the  east.  Linguistic  researches  indicate  that  in  most, 
if  not  all,  Indo-European  languages,  the  names  for  moon 
and  month  originally  coincided.2  In  Max  Miiller's 
poetical  language  the  moon  was  "the  golden  hand  on 
the  dark  dial  of  heaven." 

The  need  of  observing  the  moons,  apart  from  reli- 
gious or  superstitious  reasons,  was  no  doubt  mainly 
connected  with  economic  considerations.  To  the  sav- 
age it  is  of  supreme  importance  to  be  able  to  anticipate 
the  different  periods  of  the  year  which  bring  with  them 
different  supplies  of  natural  food  ;  and  for  this  purpose 
the  moons  afford  a  convenient  basis  of  reckoning. 
Hence  we  find  that  very  generally  among  primitive 
peoples  the  moons  are  named  after  the  moulting,  mi- 
grating, and  pairing  of  animals,  or  after  the  budding, 
blossoming,  and  ripening  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth. 
Again,  most  shepherd  tribes  reckon  time  by  moons. 
In  the  pastoral  stage  it  is  probable  that  the  necessity 
of  calculating  the  various  periods  of  gestation  and  the 
proper  time  for  breeding,  so  that  young  animals  might 
be  brought  into  the  world  at  seasons  most  favourable 
to  their  health  and  maintenance,  contributed  to  the 
observation  of  the  moon  and  to  the  formation  of  lunar 

tism,  were  accustomed   to  reckon  2  O.  Schrader,  Prehistoric  Antiq- 

according  to  lunar  months  (seven  uities  of  the  Aryan  Peoples,  trans- 

of  thirty  days  and  five  of  twenty-  lated   by   F.    B.   Jevons,   London, 

nine  days).     See  L.  Borchardt,   in  1890,  p.  306;   idem,  Reallexikon  der 

Zeitschrift  fur   dgyptische   Sprache,  indogermanischen     Altertumskunde, 

1899,  xxxvii,  92-95.  Strassburg,  1901,  p.  547. 
1  Below,  pp.  226,  247. 


176  REST  DAYS 

calendars.  If  the  desirability  of  observing  the  succes- 
sive moons  was  felt  by  frugivorous  and  pastoral  peo- 
ples, it  will  be  readily  seen  how  the  introduction  of 
agricultural  operations,  often  accompanied  by  religious 
ceremonies  and  festivals,  rendered  definite  and  clearly 
marked  divisions  of  time  a  matter  of  the  greatest  mo- 
ment. It  is  therefore  probable  that  rude  popular 
calendars  based  on  the  moon  were  in  use  long  before 
more  accurate  observations  were  made  by  primitive 
astronomers.  There  is  much  evidence  for  the  practice 
of  naming  the  moon-months  after  the  different  agri- 
cultural operations,  such  as  planting  and  harvesting, 
which  occur  in  them.  Among  the  Chinese,  Japanese, 
Babylonians,  Hebrews,  Celts,  Germans,  and  Slavs, 
the  early  epithets  of  some  or  all  of  the  months  are 
connected  with  agriculture  and  the  farmer's  life.  And 
the  Roman  Aprilis,  Maius,  and  Junius,  from  which  our 
own  month-names  have  been  taken,  are  believed  to 
have  been  originally  seasonal  designations,  referring 
to  the  sprouting,  growth,  and  maturity  of  vegetation. 

A  lunar  month  does  not  necessarily  imply  a  lunar 
year.  Of  not  a  few  savage  and  half-civilized  peoples 
it  is  expressly  said  that  they  have  but  vague  notions 
of  a  year  as  a  fixed  period  of  time,  and  that  they  can 
refer  to  events  more  than  a  few  months  past  only  as 
happening  after  some  noteworthy  event,  such  as  a 
flood,  a  drought,  an  earthquake,  a  comet,  or  the  death 
of  a  chief.  The  foundation  of  yearly  reckonings  must 
be  sought  in  the  observation  of  rhythmical  natural 
phenomena  —  the  alternation  of  the  seasons,  the  recur- 
rence of  periodical  winds,  the  varying  length  of  day  as 
determined  by  the  sun's  elevation,  and  especially  the 
rising  and  setting  of  the  Pleiades.1  In  order  to  adapt 
the  same  moons  to  the  same  seasons  as  they  succes- 

1  R.  Andree,  "Die  Plejaden  im  of  the  Wild,  London,  1912,  i,  307- 

Mythus    und    in    ihrer    Beziehung  319;     E.    Forstemann,  "The  Plei- 

zum  Jahresbeginn  und  Landbau,"  ades  among  the  Mayas,"  Bulletin 

Globus,    1893,    Ixiv,    362-366;     Sir  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 

J.  G.  Frazer,  Spirits  of  the  Corn  and  1904,  no.  28,  pp.  523  sq. 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     177 

>ively  occurred,  or  to  the  course  of  the  sun,  or  to  the 
rising  and  setting  of  the  Pleiades,  the  number  of  moons 
was  usually  taken  at  twelve,  giving  the  lunar  year  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty-four  days.1 

It  is  unnecessary  in  this  connection  to  discuss  fully 
the  various  methods  which  have  been  employed  to 
adjust  the  pure  lunar  year  of  twelve  synodic  months 
to  the  seasonal  or  solar  year.  Some  primitive  peoples 
adopt  the  expedient  of  counting  thirteen  lunations  to 
the  year.  A  more  common  and  accurate  procedure  is 
to  intercalate  the  thirteenth  month,  usually  in  every 
second  or  third  year.  Familiar  illustrations  are  fur- 
nished by  the  Hindus,  Babylonians,  Jews,  and  Greeks 
in  antiquity;  among  modern  peoples,  by  the  natives 
of  Burma,  Siam,  China,  and  Japan.2  The  methods  of 
intercalation  employed  are  historically  numerous,  the 
details  are  often  obscure,  and  in  no  instance  were  the 
results  wholly  successful.  The  difficulties  arising  from 
such  attempts  to  coordinate  incoordinable  quantities 
must  have  been  the  prime  cause  of  the  adoption  of 
calendars  in  which  the  month,  instead  of  denoting  the 
moon's  synodic  revolution,  received  an  arbitrary  num- 

1  The    lunar    year    of    twelve  Sceptical    modern    historians    are 

synodic  months   consists,   exactly,  inclined  to  dismiss  the  Roman  tra- 

of  354  days,  8  hours,  48  minutes,  dition   as   a  mere  figment  of  the 

and  36  seconds.     The  Maori  have  imagination. 

a  legend  to  the  effect  that  their  2The  thirteenth  month  is  re- 
ancient  year  contained  ten  months  ferred  to  in  the  Rig-Veda  (i,  25,  8; 
only,  until  a  certain  teacher,  full  of  transl.  H.  Grassmann,  ii,  25)  as  the 
divine  wisdom,  instructed  them  to  "later-born  month";  compare 
make  their  year  twelve  months  Atharva-Veda,  v,  6,  4,  xiii,  3,  8 
long  (E.  Tregear,  The  Maori  Race,  (transl.  W.  D.  Whitney,  pp.  230, 
Wanganui  [N.Z.],  1904,  p.  143).  729).  This  intercalary  month 
The  Chinese  have  a  similar  tradi-  bears  a  distinctly  unfavourable 
tion  of  a  ten-month  year  (H.  A.  character,  being  regarded  as  unfit 
Giles,  A  Glossary  of  References  on  for  any  religious  undertaking 
Subjects  connected  with  the  Far  East?  (Haug,  Aitareya  Brahmanamy  ii,  26) . 
Shanghai,  1900,  p.  183).  The  Among  the  Loango  negroes  the 
Roman  "year  of  Romulus"  con-  thirteenth  month,  inserted  every 
sisted  of  ten  months  and  (com-  three  years,  is  likewise  regarded  as 
monly)  three  hundred  and  four  an  evil  time  (E.  Pechuel-Loesche, 
days  (Censorinus,  De  die  natali,  xx,  op.  cit.9  pp.  138  sq.). 
2-3;  Lydus,  De  mensibus,  i,  16). 


178  REST  DAYS 

ber  of  days  approaching  the  twelfth  part  of  a  solar 
year. 

The  period  of  a  lunation  seems  to  have  been  generally 
estimated,  in  the  first  instance,  at  thirty  days,  a  cal- 
culation found  in  the  lunar  calendars  of  many  half- 
civilized  peoples,  and  still  employed  at  the  present  day 
on  all  occasions  when  absolute  accuracy  is  not  consid- 
ered necessary.  Indeed,  if  lunations  be  used,  it  is  more 
exact  to  count  by  thirty  days  than  by  twenty-nine. 
When  the  moon's  synodic  revolution  came  to  be  more 
accurately  measured  by  calculating  an  average  from 
the  number  of  days  comprised  in  several  successive 
lunations,  the  true  length  (about  twenty-nine  and  one- 
half  days)  could  be  conveniently  calendarized  only  by 
periods  of  twenty-nine  and  thirty  days  in  alternation. 
Such  vacillating  months  were  used  by  the  Hawaiians 
and  the  New  Zealanders  ;  they  were  familiar  to  the 
Jews,  the  later  Babylonians,  and  the  Greeks  ;  and  they 
are  still  found  throughout  the  Mohammedan  world, 
and  among  various  peoples  of  southeastern  Asia.1 

People  who  reckon  by  moons  naturally  begin  their 
lunar  month  with  the  first  appearance  of  the  luminous 

1  The  old  Roman  arrangement  in  a  famous  line  —  Numero  deus 
of  the  months,  though  based  on  the  impare  gaudet  (Bucolica,  viii,  75) 
lunar  year,  is  sui  generis.  Four  of  —  is  supposed  to  have  been  derived 
the  twelve  months,  viz.,  March,  from  Pythagorean  speculations  re- 
May,  July,  and  October,  had  thirty-  garding  the  cosmic  properties  of 
one  days,  and  the  rest  twenty-nine  numbers.  It  may  better  be  con- 
days,  except  February,  which  had  sidered  a  genuinely  Italian  notion, 
twenty-eight  days.  All  the  months  since  like  beliefs  are  found  in  the 
thus  had  an  odd  number  of  days,  folklore  of  other  peoples,  notably 
save  February,  which  was  spe-  the  old  Arabs  and  the  modern 
cially  devoted  to  purificatory  cere-  Hindus.  See  I.  Goldziher,  in 
monies  and  the  cult  of  the  dead.  Globus,  1901,  Ixxx,  31;  Crooke, 
This  peculiar  arrangement  appears  Popular  Religion  and  Folk-lore  of 
to  have  been  based  on  an  old  belief  Northern  India?  ii,  51.  The 
that  odd  numbers  are  of  good  choice  of  355  days,  rather  than  354 
omen,  even  numbers,  of  ill  omen  days,  as  the  length  of  the  Roman 
(T.  Mommsen,  Die  romische  Chro-  lunar  year,  was  undoubtedly  deter- 
nologie  bis  auf  Cczsar,  Berlin,  1858,  p.  mined  by  the  prevalence  of  the 
13 ;  Marquardt-Wissowa,  Romische  same  superstition  (Censorinus,  De 
Staatsverwaltung,  Hi,2  284).  The  die  natali,  xx,  4). 
superstition,  alluded  to  by  Vergil 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     179 


crescent  in  the  western  sky.1  The  real  moon  being 
invisible  for  two  or  three  days,  various  expedients  are 
adopted  in  order  to  secure  regularity  in  lunar  reckon- 
ings. Thus,  the  Toda  keep  a  record  of  the  number  of 
days  from  new  moon  to  full  moon  and  from  that  to  the 
next  new  moon.  The  full  moon  is  counted  as  being 
on  the  fifteenth  day  after  the  new  moon,  and  the  new 
moon  as  being  on  the  sixteenth  day  after  the  full  moon.2 
The  Basuto  begin  their  month  on  the  day  when  the 
new  moon  is  visible,  though  they  count  two  more  days 
when  the  moon  cannot  be  seen  at  all  in  the  heavens.3 
Still  other  devices  were  employed  in  antiquity  by  the 
Babylonians,  Hebrews,  and  Romans.4 


1  This  custom  explains  the  wide- 
spread practice  of  beginning  the 
civil  day  at  sunset  or,  more  accu- 
rately, in  the  interval  between  the 
foing-down  of  the  sun  and  complete 
arkness.  The  necessities  of  a 
calendar  system  requiring  that  the 
first  day  of  the  month  should  be 
counted  from  the  same  moment 
that  the  month  itself  is  supposed  to 
begin,  it  follows  that  the  other  days 
of  the  month  must  also  be  calcu- 
lated from  evening  to  evening. 
The  noctidiurnal  cycle  is  wide- 
spread throughout  the  lower  cul- 
ture, being  found,  generally,  among 
the  North  American  Indians,  the 
Melanesians  and  Polynesians,  and 
in  Africa.  The  same  cycle  ob- 
tained among  many  peoples  of 
archaic  civilization.  The  Baby- 
lonian day  began  with  the  even- 
ing, and  this  is  still  the  custom 
among  the  Arabs  and  throughout 
the  Mohammedan  world.  Modern 
Jewish  communities,  in  beginning 
their  ritual  day  in  the  evening, 
retain  a  practice  illustrated  by 
several  Old  Testament  passages 
(Genesis,  i,  5;  Psalms,  Iv,  17). 
Various  festivals  and  fasts,  such 
as  the  Sabbath,  the  Day  of  Atone- 
ment, and  the  Feast  of  Unleavened 
Bread,  were  so  arranged  as  to 


begin  and  end  with  the  evening. 
Among  most  of  the  Indo-Germanic 
peoples  the  civil  day,  or  nycthe- 
meron,  commenced  at  sunset;  and 
the  practice,  which  still  survives  in 
Iceland,  was  not  abandoned  in 
Italy  and  some  other  parts  of 
Europe  until  about  a  century  ago. 
Our  English  words  "fortnight" 
and  "  sennight"  are  reminiscent  of 
this  ancient  custom.  See  G.  A. 
Wilken,  "Het  tellen  bij  nachten 
bij  de  volken  van  het  maleisch- 
polynesische  ras,"  Bijdragen  tot  de 
taal-land-en  volkenkunde  van  Neder- 
landsch-Indie,  1886,  fifth  series, 
pt.  i,  378-392;  A.  Fischer,  "'Tag 
und  Nacht*  im  arabischen  und 
die  semitische  Tagesberechnung," 
Abhandlungen  der  philologisch- 
historischen  Klasse  der  koniglich- 
sdchischen  Gesellschaft  der  Wissen- 
schaften,  1909,  xxvii,  741-758;  O. 
Schrader,  Reallexikon,  p.  845;  S. 
Reinach,  "Die,"  in  Daremberg 
and  Saglio,  op.  cit.,  iii,  168  sq., 
G.  Bilfinger,  Der  burgerliche  Tag, 
Stuttgart,  1888. 

2  Rivers,  Todas,  pp.  590  sqq. 

3  J.  Sechefo,  "The  Twelve  Lunar 
Months  among  the  Basuto,"  An- 
thropos,  1909,  iv,  931  sqq. 

4  Below,  pp.  184,  226  sq.,  248  sq. 


i8o  REST  DAYS 

The  lunar  month,  which  in  rude  communities  pro- 
vides a  satisfactory  chronological  unit,  does  not  meet 
the  needs  of  an  advancing  society.  Shorter  periods 
become  desirable,  and  these  may  be  found  in  the 
division  of  the  lunation.  There  is  much  evidence 
that  primitive  peoples  watch  the  lunar  phases  with 
keen  interest,  often  name  them,  and  sometimes  use 
them  for  the  purpose  of  reckoning  time.  The  natives 
of  Victoria  are  said  to  employ  ordinal  numbers  only 
in  numbering  the  days  of  the  month  for  making  appoint- 
ments. As  their  months  are  marked  by  the  reappear- 
ance of  the  moon,  their  ordinal  numbers  do  not  go 
beyond  twenty-eight.1  The  Dieri  and  related  tribes 
of  South  Australia  reckon  by  lunar  phases;  "when 
anticipating  a  grand  ceremony  they  refer  to  the  first 
or  last  quarter  of  the  moon."  2  The  central  Aus- 
tralians, who  regard  the  moon  as  a  male  deity,  have 
distinct  names  applied  to  new  moon,  first  quarter,  full 
moon,  and  last  quarter.3  In  German  New  Guinea 
the  phases  of  the  moon  are  employed  for  all  time-units 
greater  than  a  day.4  The  natives  of  New  Britain  are 
close  observers  of  the  phases  of  the  moon  (kalang)  and 
have  separate  terms  for  them.5  The  New  Caledonians 
count  by  lunar  months,  "each  divided  into  four  weeks, 
following  the  four  phases  of  the  moon."  6  The  Kayan 
on  the  Mendalam  River  in  Dutch  Borneo  name  eight 
phases  of  the  waxing  and  waning  moon.7  The  Dyak 
tribes  on  the  Mahakam  and  Barito  rivers  in  Dutch 
Borneo  "reckon  their  time  by  the  full  moon,  half 
moon,  and  new  moon."  8  In  those  parts  of  Sumatra 
where  the  seven-day  week  has  not  been  introduced, 

1  James  Dawson,  Australian  Ab-  4  B.  Hagen,  Unter  den  Papua's, 
origines,  Melbourne,  1881,  p.  xcix.  Wiesbaden,  1899,  p.  244. 

2  S.    Gason,    in   Journal   of  the  5  Georgetown, Melanesians and 
Anthropological  Institute,  1895,  xxiv,  Polynesians,  London,  1910,  p.  332. 
174.                                                                6V.    de    Rochas,    La    Nouvelle- 

3  Spencer  and  Gillen,  The  Native  Caledonie,  Paris,  1862,  p.  191. 
Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  London,  7  Nieuwenhuis,  op.  cit.,  i,  317. 
1897,  pp.  25,  564  sq.                                      8  C.  Bock,  Head-hunters  of  Bor- 
neo,'1' London,  1882,  p.  212. 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     181 


it  is  a  common  practice  to  calculate  by  the  days  of 
the  moon's  age.1  The  very  primitive  peoples  occupying 
Nias  and  the  Mentawi  Islands  off  the  western  coast 
of  Sumatra  distinguish  four  phases  of  the  moon  and 
give  to  them  appropriate  names.2  Not  only  do  the 
Nicobarese  possess  terms  to  denote  the  chief  phases 
of  the  lunation,  but  they  are  also  able  to  indicate  any 
particular  day  in  the  lunar  month  with  perfect  clear- 
ness, since  each  day  has  its  particular  name.3  The 
Andaman  Islanders,  possessing  no  extended  enumera- 
tion, do  not  count  the  moons  in  the  year,  but  never- 
theless employ  appropriate  words  to  designate  the 
lunar  phases.4  The  Bontoc  and  Ibaloi  Igorot  have 
noted  and  named  eight  phases  of  the  moon ;  these, 
however,  are  said  to  be  seldom  used  for  counting  time.6 
Throughout  the  Caroline  Islands  (Yap,  Lamotrek, 
Ponape,  Uleai)  the  successive  days  of  the  month  receive 
names  indicating  the  moon's  age.6  In  Polynesia  every 
night  in  the  month  had  its  distinct  name  derived  from 
the  changing  aspects  of  the  moon.7  The  Nandi  of 


1  William  Marsden,  The  History 
of  Sumatra?  London,  1811,  p.  194; 
compare  B.  Hagen,  Die  Orang  Kubu 
auj 'Sumatra,  Frankfurt-a.-M.,  1908, 

P   154- 

2  E.    Modigliani,    Un   viaggio   a 
Nias,  Milan,  1890,  pp.  4,  484;   A. 
Maass,  Bei  liebenswurdigen  Wilden, 
Berlin,  1902,  p.  93. 

3  E.   H.   Man,   in   Indian  Anti- 
quary, 1897,  xxvi,  270  sq. 

4  Idem,  in  Journal  of  the  Anthro- 
pological Institute,  1883,  xii,  337. 

6  A.  E.  Jenks,  in  Ethnological 
Survey  Publications,  Manila,  1905, 
i,  219;  O.  Scheerer,  ibid.,  ii,  158. 

6  F.  W.  Christian,  The  Caroline 
Islands,  London,  1899,  pp.  387  sq., 
392  sqq.;  M.  Girschner,  in  Baessler- 
Archiv,  1911,  ii,  175  sq. 

7  The    Maori    counted    twenty- 
eight   "nights"   of  the   moon,   in- 
cluding:   i.  noni  hope,  the  moon  is 
in     the     reinga,     or     underworld ; 


4.  he  oho  ata,  the  moon  is  visible; 

5.  ouenuku,  it  begins  to  rise  a  little 
way;      6.  maweti,     it     rises     still 
higher;     14.  he  atua,  full;     19.  he 
ohika,  the  moon  begins  to  wane; 
24.  tanagaroa  a  roto,  it  sinks  into 
the  sea;    28.  he  o  mutu,  it  disap- 
pears   (Taylor,    Te   Ika   A   Maui, 
p.  177).     To  the  Society  Islanders 
the  fifteenth  day  was  omarae,  or  the 
moon  with  a  round  and  full  face; 
the  thirtieth  day,  oterieo,  was  the 
time   when    the   moon    dies   or   is 
changed     (Ellis,     Polynesian     Re- 
searches, i,  87  sq.}.     In  the  Hervey 
group  several  of  the  moon  nights 
were    sacred    to    the    gods.     The 
twenty-eighth  day  was  called  mauri 

—  ghost ;   the  twenty-ninth,  omutu 

—  ended ;     the    thirtieth,    otire    o 
avaiki  —  lost     in     the     depths     of 
avaiki,    or    Hades    (W.    W.    Gill, 
Myths   and   Songs   from   the   South 
Pacific,    London,    1876,    p.    318). 


1 82  REST  DAYS 

British  East  Africa  similarly  designate  the  successive 
nights  of  a  lunar  month.1  The  Bini  of  Southern 
Nigeria  even  appoint  special  persons  to  observe  the 
changes  of  the  moon.2  The  Ho  tribes  of  Togo  and  the 
Hottentots  of  South  Africa  employ  separate  terms  for 
all  the  lunar  phases.3  In  South  America  the  Karaja 
of  Brazil,  in  addition  to  noting  and  naming  the  four 
most  conspicuous  phases  of  the  moon,  also  distinguish 
a  fifth  phase,  which  occurs  between  first  quarter  and 
full  moon.4  Of  the  North  American  Indians  it  has 
been  said,  generally,  that  the  "  alternations  of  day  and 
night  and  the  changes  of  the  moon  and  the  seasons 
formed  the  basis  of  their  [calendar]  systems."  5  In 
the  words  of  the  Koran  the  phases  of  the  moon  are 
"  indications  of  time  for  men."  6 

Since  new  moon  and  full  moon  are  the  most  conspicu- 
ous lunar  phases,  it  has  been  a  common  practice  to 
recognize  two  periods  in  the  lunation,  as  marked  by  the 
waxing  and  the  waning  moon.7  This  two-fold  division 

For   a   table  of  the   days   of  the  example,  the  seventh  day,  and  the 

moon's  age  in  the  Maori,  Morion,  last  quarter,  the  twenty-first  day 

Hawaiian,     Tahitian,    Marquesan,  (Nielsen,  Altarabische  Mondreligion, 

and     Rarotongan     languages     see  p.  85,  referring  to  Dr.  Glaser's  obser- 

Tregear,    Maori-Polynesian    Com-  vations). 

parative  Dictionary,  p.  666.  7  The   mean   age   of  the   moon 

1  Hollis,  Nandi,  pp.  95  sq.  when    first    seen    being    30    hours 

2  Dennett,   At  the   Back   of  the  ,24  ,                      ,             Q     , 
Black  Man's  Mind,  p.  186.  +  f  hours  =  I      day,     18     hours 

3  J.    Spieth,    Die   Ewe-Stdmme,  (above,  p.    174  w.1),  and  the  mean 
Berlin,  1906,  p.  556;    L.  Schultze,  age  of  the  moon  when  full  being 
Aus  Namaland  und  Kalahari,  Jena,  29  days,  12  +  hours  _          i  8 
1907,  p.  370.     The  Hottentots  now                     2 

use  the  European  week  (Schultze,  hours,    it   follows   that   the   mean 

op.  cit.,  p.  372).  interval  between  the  first  appear- 

4  F.  Krause,  In  den  Wildnissen  ance  of  the  moon  and  the  full  of 
Brasiliens,  Leipzig,  1911,  p.  339.  the  moon  is  about  13   days.     "In 

6  C.  Thomas,  "Calendar,"  Hand-  other  words  the  moon  becomes  full 

book  of  American  Indians,  pt.  i,  on  an  average  at  the  end  of  the 

189  (Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  thirteenth  day  and  the  beginning 

American  Ethnology,  no.  30).  of  the  fourteenth  night.  Hence, 

6  Koran,  ii,  185.  Even  at  the  where  the  days  are  reckoned  from 
present  time  the  south  Arabians  sunset,  we  should  expect  the  four- 
determine  the  day  of  the  month  by  teenth  day  of  the  month  to  be 
observation  of  the  moon's  phases,  regarded  as  the  day  of  the  full 
the  first  quarter  being  called,  for  moon.  And  it  is  in  fact  one  of  the 


LUNAR   CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     183 


of  the  month  does  not  seem  to  be  employed  for  calendri- 
cal  purposes  by  the  Australian  aborigines,  but  in  some 
parts  of  Melanesia  the  two  halves  of  the  lunation 
receive  appropriate  names  and  the  full  moon  itself 
bears  a  particular  designation.1  The  Maori  of  New 
Zealand,  who  sometimes  "divide  the  month  into  halves 
or  fortnights  by  'moon-growing'  and  'moon-lessen- 
ing,'"2 are  the  only  Polynesian  people  to  adopt  this 
mode  of  reckoning.  It  is  met,  also,  in  Malaysia  (Java, 
Sumatra,  Bali,  Nias,  etc.),  but  only  where  Indian  cul- 
ture has  penetrated.3 

The  division  of  the  month  into  two  parts  is  found 
among  most  Indo-European  peoples.  In  India  the 
recognition  of  the  "light"  and  "dark"  halves  of  the 
month  goes  back  to  Vedic  antiquity.4  Modern  Hindus 
divide  the  month  into  two  fortnights,  the  days  of  which 
are  reckoned  continuously  as  those  of  the  increasing 


days  most  commonly  so  regarded. 
The  fifteenth  is  a  date  obtained 
more  simply.  Fifteen  is  half 
thirty  and,  as  the  middle  of  the 
month,  should  be  the  date  of  full 
moon.  In  calendars  based  on  cal- 
culations the  month  is  frequently 
reckoned  from  the  actual  new 
moon,  and  in  these  the  fifteenth  is 
more  correct  than  the  fourteenth 
for  the  mean  date  of  full  moon." 
It  should  be  noted,  also,  that,  as  a 
general  rule,  the  nearer  the  autum- 
nal equinox,  the  later  the  first 
appearance  of  the  moon  and  the 
shorter  the  interval  between  the 
visible  new  moon  and  full  moon. 
If  the  first  appearance  is  late,  as  it 
often  is  in  September,  the  moon 
might  be  full  on  the  night  follow- 
ing the  eleventh  day.  See  J.  K. 
Fotheringham,  in  Proceedings  of  the 
British  Academy,  1909-1910,  pp. 
283,  286. 

1  R.  Thurnwald,  Forschungen  auf 
den  Salomo-Inseln  und  dem  Bis- 
marck Archipel,  Berlin,  1912-1913, 
i,  330  sq. 


2  E.  Tregear,  in  Journal  of  the 
Anthropological  Institute,  1890,  xix, 

X**L.  H.  Gray,  "Calendar  (Poly- 
nesian)," Hastings' s  Encyclopedia 
of  Religion  and  Ethics,  iii,  130; 
J.  v.  Brenner,  Besuch  bei  den 
Kannibalen  Sumatras,  Wiirzburg, 
1894,  p.  233;  R.  Friederich,  in 
Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society^, 
1878,  n.s.,  x,  93  sq.;  Modigliani, 
op.  cit.,  p.  464. 

4  A.  Weber,  in  Indische  Studien, 
1853,  ii,  166  n*-,  H.  Zimmer, 
Altindisches  Leben,  Berlin,  1879, 
p.  364;  G.  Thibaut,  "Astronomic, 
Astrologie,  und  Mathematik," 
Biihler's  Grundriss  der  indo-arischen 
Philologie  und  Altertumskunde,  iii, 
pt.  ix,  12.  This  lunar  fortnight 
of  the  Hindus  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Romans,  and  Quintus 
Curtius  speaks  of  it  as  a  note- 
worthy fact  (Histories  Alexandri 
Magni,  viii,  9).  References  to  it 
are  also  found  in  mediaeval  litera- 
ture; compare  Albiruni,  op.  cit.,  i, 
359- 


1 84 


REST  DAYS 


or  decreasing  moon.  The  full-moon  day  (amavus)  is 
held  in  great  sanctity.1  Like  customs  prevail  in  Cey- 
lon, Burma,  Siam,  Indo-China,  and  other  parts  of 
Asia.2  The  bipartite  division  of  the  month  was  famil- 
iar to  the  ancient  Persians  3  and  to  the  early  Greeks.4 
The  fifteenth  of  the  month  was  regularly  called  by 
the  Greeks  the  full-moon  day  (Dichomenia,  St^o/Lt^i/ia) 
even  after  the  introduction  of  the  sequence  of  twenty- 
nine  day  and  thirty-day  months.6  In  "hollow"  months 
of  twenty-nine  days  the  full  moon,  of  course,  would 
fall  on  the  fourteenth  day,  except  when  an  extra  day 
was  intercalated  every  thirty-two  or  thirty-three 
months.6  The  Roman  kalendce  and  idus  corresponded 
to  the  Greek  VOV^VIOL  and  Si^o^^ta.7  The  Kalends 
were  so  named  because  in  early  times  the  pontiffs  had 
been  accustomed  to  make  a  public  announcement 
(calare)  whether  five  or  seven  days  should  be  reckoned 
from  new  moon  to  the  first  quarter.8  The  Ides  thus 


1  G.  E.  Balfour,  The  Cyclopedia 
of   India?    ii,    981 ;     Sewell     and 
Dikshit,  The  Indian  Calendar,  Lon- 
don, 1896,  p.  4. 

2  Childers,  Dictionary  of  the  Pali 
Language,  s.v.  paracadasi;  A.  Caba- 
ton,  in  Hastings's  Encyclopedia  of 
Religion  and  Ethics,  iii,  136  (as  to 
the    Siamese) ;     Shway    Yoe,    The 
Burman?    p.    550;     A.    Cabaton, 
in  Hastings's  Encyclopedia  of  Reli- 
gion and  Ethics,  iii,  113  sq.  (as  to 
the     Cambodians,     Chams,     and 
Laotians) ;    H.  Vambery,  Die  pri- 
mitive  Cultur  des  turko-tatarischen 
Volkes,    Leipzig,     1879,     p.     160; 
Carl  Hiekisch,  Die   Tungusen,  St. 
Petersburg,  1879,  p.  94.     In  Tibet 
the  fifteenth  day  of  the  lunar  month 
receives  a  special  name  (A.  Csoma 
de  Koros,  A  Grammar  of  the  Tibetan 
Language,  Calcutta,  1834,  p.  157). 

3  Yost,  vii,  2  (S.  B.  E.,  xxiii,  89). 

4  Odyssey,  xiv,    162;     xix,   307: 
TOV  ftev  </>0tvovros  fArjvos,  Tov  8'  !<rra/u,€- 
voio ;    Hesiod,  Opera   et   dies,  780 : 

bs  8'  Icrra^fvov 


6G.  F.  Unger,  "Zeitrechnung 
der  Griechen  und  Romer,"  Iwan 
von  Miiller's  Handbuch  der  klassi- 
schen  Altertumswissenschaft,  i,  563. 
However,  evidence  is  not  wanting 
for  the  observance  of  the  fourteenth 
day,  and  even  of  the  sixteenth  day, 
as  that  of  the  full  moon.  See  A. 
Mommsen,  Chronologie,  Leipzig, 
1883,  pp.  99  sqq. 

6  The  Greeks  never  knew  the 
exact  mean  measurement  of  a 
lunation  and,  owing  to  their  neglect 
of  the  odd  minutes  and  seconds  in 
the  lunar  month,  they  were  obliged 
occasionally  to  intercalate  an  addi- 
tional day.  From  a  passage  in 
Aristophanes  it  would  appear  that 
this  pious  duty  to  the  gods  was  not 
always  performed  (Nubes,  610 
sqq.}. 

1  T.  Mommsen,  Rdmische  Chro- 
nologie, pp.  13  sq.,  215  sq.;  Mar- 
quardt-Wissowa,  Rdmische  Staats- 
verwaltung,  iii,2  282  sq. 

8  Macrobius,  Saturnalia,  i,  15^ 
10;  Varro,  De  lingua  Latina,  vi,  27. 


•f~11   . 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     185 


fell  on  the  thirteenth  or  fifteenth  day  of  the  month, 
according  as  the  Nones  occurred  on  the  fifth  or  seventh 
day.  The  Roman  belief  in  the  virtue  of  odd  numbers 
doubtless  explains  this  choice  of  dates  for  both  Nones 
and  Ides.1  Among  the  ancient  Germans  new  moon  and 
full  moon  appear  as  the  most  prominent  lunar  phases.2 
The  division  of  the  lunation  into  two  parts,  the  first 
of  fifteen  days,  the  second  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  days, 
according  as  the  month  had  twenty-nine  or  thirty  days, 
is  clearly  indicated  for  the  Celtic  peoples.3  In  the 
Calendar  of  Coligny  the  days  of  each  half-month  are 
numbered  consecutively,  following  what  must  have 
been  the  old  Indo-European  practice.  The  second 
half  of  the  month  is  always  preceded  by  the  title  atenoux, 
doubtless  indicating  full  moon,  and  variously  trans- 
lated " great  night"  or  " renewal."4  That  this  Gallic 
calendar  presents  no  exceptional  custom  is  obvious 
from  the  constant  occurrence  in  the  literature  of  the 
insular  Celts  of  such  expressions  as  the  Welsh  pythewnos, 
a  fortnight  (literally  "a  fifteen  night"),  and  the  Irish 
coicthiges,  which  has  the  same  meaning.5  With  these 

1  The  nones,  or  Nones,  were  so  3J.     Loth,     "L'annee    celtique 
called  because,  by  the  Roman  in-  d'apres  les  textes  irlandais,  gallois, 
elusive  reckoning,  they  fell  on  the  bretons,  et  le  calendrier  de  Coligny," 
ninth  day  (nonus)  before  the  Ides  Revue    celtique,     1904,    xxv,     131; 
(Varro,  loc.cit.}.    Plutarch's  deriva-  R.  Thurneysen,  "Die  Namen  der 
tion    from   novus,    new   or   young,  Wochentage  in  den  keltischen  Dia- 
referring  to  the  waxing  moon,   is  lecten,"     Zeitschrift    fur     deutsche 
without    justification     (Quesstiones  PFortforschung,  1901,  i,  191. 
Romance,  24).     On  the  etymology  4  The  long  inscription,  engraved 
of    idus    see    Walde,    Lateinisches  on  a  bronze  tablet,  which  forms  the 
etymologise  ties  W  orterbuch?  p.  375.  Calendar  of  Coligny,  was  discovered 
The  Romans  had  no  name,  corre-  in  1897  near  the  city  of  Lyons.     See 
sponding    to    nones,    for    the    last  S.  de  Ricci,  "Le  calendrier  gaulois 
quarter  of  the  moon.     It  has  been  de  Coligny,"  Revue  celtique,   1898, 
argued,  therefore,  that  the  Nones  xix,  213-223;  R.  Thurneysen,  "Der 
never  marked  the  first  quarter  and  Kalender  von  Coligny,"  Zeitschrift 
that  they  were  introduced,    quite  fur  celtische  Philologie,  1899,  ii,  523- 
artificially,  during  the  regal  period  544;  Sir  John  Rhys,  "The  Coligny 
(R.  Flex,  Die  dlteste  Monatseintei-  Calendar,"  Proceedings  of  the  British 
lung  der  Romer,  Jena,  1880,  pp.  5  sq.,  Academy,  1909-1910,  pp.  207  sqq. 
24  sqq.,  36,  42).                                                 6Loth,    loc.    cit.;     Rhys,    Celtic 

2  Tacitus,    Germania,    n  :     cum  Heathendom,3    London,    1898,    pp. 
aut  inchoatur  luna  aut  impletur.  360  sq. 


1 86  REST  DAYS 

terms  may  be  compared  our  English  "fortnight"  (O.  E. 
feowertyne  nihf). 

The  bipartite  division  of  the  month  may  be  traced 
even  more  widely.  It  was  recognized  by  the  Egyptians, 
who  appear  to  have  counted  the  days  by  the  decreasing 
and  increasing  moon  and  to  have  regarded  the  full 
moon  (nth)  as  the  most  important  of  the  lunar  phases.1 
For  Semitic  peoples,  notably  the  Babylonians  and 
Hebrews,  new  moon  and  full  moon  enjoyed  significance 
not  only  as  religious  festivals  but  also  as  the  most 
conspicuous  periods  of  the  lunation.  A  primitive 
cycle  of  thirteen  days  used  for  ritual  purposes  by  the 
ancient  Mexicans  may  have  been  originally  suggested 
by  the  number  of  months  in  the  lunar  year,  but  the 
choice  of  this  number  seems  also  to  have  been  affected 
by  the  recognition  of  thirteen  visible  stages  of  the 
moon's  increase  (mtxtozoliztli,  the  moon's  waking)  and 
thirteen  visible  stages  of  her  decrease  (mecochiliztli, 
the  moon's  sleep).2  In  both  Colombia  and  Peru  the 
half-months  were  reckoned  by  the  waxing  and  the 
waning  of  the  moon.3 

1  Horapollo,  Hieroglyphicay  i,  4;  periods  of  time  at  all:    "one  full 

Brugsch,  Agyptologie,  p.  331;    E.  moon  to  another  is  as  far  as  they 

Mahler,   in   Journal  of  the   Royal  usually  go"  (B.  T.  Somerville,  in 

Asiatic   Society,  1901,   n.s.,   xxxiii,  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  In- 

55      sqq.       Mahler's       hypothesis  stitute,  1897,  xxvi,  404). 
that   the   Egyptians   looked    upon  2  Payne,  op.  cit.,  ii,  310,  323  sqq., 

the  full  moon   as   the   completion  355   sqq.;    J.   de  Acosta,   op.  cit., 

of   the    lunation    is    not    improb-  ok.  vi,  ch.  2  (ed.  C.  R.  Markham,  ii, 

able;  there  are  several  passages  in  393);    H.  H.  Bancroft,  The  Native 

the   Vedas    where   the    full    moon  Races  of  the  Pacific  States  of  North 

is    indicated    as    the    end    of   the  America,    ii,    515    sq.     For    other 

month   and   at   the  same  time  as  and  less  plausible  reasons  leading 

the  beginning  of  the  next  month  to  the  choice  of  the  number  thirteen, 

(Thibaut,    op.    cit.,    p.    12).     The  see  C.  P.  Bowditch,  The  Numeration, 

evidence  yielded  by  the  Calendar  Calendar  Systems,  and  Astronomical 

of  Coligny   has   been   thought   to  Knowledge  of  the  Mayas,  Cambridge 

imply  that  originally  the  Sequani  (Mass.),  1910,  pp.  266  sq. 
of  Gaul  counted  the  months  from  3  V.  Restrepo,  Los  Chibchas  antes 

full      moon     to      full     moon     (R.  de   la   conquista   espanola,    Bogota, 

Thurneysen,  in  Zeitschrift  fur  celti-  1895,    p.    162;     Garcilasso    de    la 

sche     Philologie,     1899,    ii,     526).  Vega,  op.  cit.,  pt.  i,  bk.  ii,  ch.  23 

The  Melanesians  of  New  Georgia  (transl.  C.  R.  Markham,  i,  181). 
do    not    seem    to    calculate    long 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     187 


From  the  division  of  the  month  into  two  fortnights, 
at  once  the  simplest,  earliest,  and  most  widespread 
form  of  the  week,  we  pass  to  the  consideration  of  those 
shorter  cycles  of  time  which  are  found  in  various  parts 
of  the  world.  It  might  appear  at  first  sight  that  all 
civil  weeks  of  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  nine,  and  ten  days 
would  likewise  have  a  natural  origin  in  divisions,  either 
of  the  true  lunation  or  of  the  conventional  month. 
But  the  evidence  which  has  been  presented  for  the 
existence  of  market  weeks  shows  that  these  arose  quite 
independently  of  the  lunar  month,  and  that  only  at  a 
subsequent  period,  when  they  came  into  general  use 
for  calendrical  purposes,  were  they  adjusted  to  the 
length  of  the  moon's  monthly  course.  Some  interest- 
ing examples  of  this  process  of  adjustment  may  be 
studied  among  the  negroes  of  west  Africa.  Thus,  the 
Yoruba  week  consists  of  five  days,  and  six  of  them  are 
supposed  to  make  a  lunar  month.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  since  the  first  day  of  the  first  week  always  com- 
mences with  the  appearance  of  the  new  moon,  the  month 
really  contains  five  weeks  of  five  days'  duration,  and 
one  of  four  days  and  a  half,  approximately.1  Again, 
the  Tshi  tribes  of  the  Gold  Coast,  having  chosen  seven- 
day  weeks,  find  it  necessary  to  begin  them  at  different 
hours  of  the  day.  Some  of  their  weeks,  termed  rfehsun, 
"  It  is  seven,"  may  have  eight  days  and  six  nights,  others 
the  reverse,  and  others  seven  days  and  nights,  with  a 
fractional  part  of  a  day  or  night.2  Such  are  the  expedi- 
ents adopted  by  some  semi-civilized  peoples,  whose 
months  are  strictly  lunar,  to  avoid  the  difficulty  pre- 
sented by  the  fact  that  the  length  of  the  lunation 

1  Ellis,   Yoruba-speaking  Peoples,  those    used    by    the    Tshi.     With 

pp.  143  sq.     The  Benin  tribes  are  both    the   Tshi    and    Ga    the    full 

said  to  employ  the  same  method  of  moon  marks  the  commencement  of 

reckoning.  the   third   week   of  yf   days   and, 

2  Idem,     Tshi-s peaking    Peoples,  with  the  Yoruba,  the  commence- 

pp.  215  sq.     The  Ga  tribes  have  an  ment  of  the  fourth  week  of  5  days, 

exactly  similar  mode  of  measuring  in  each  case  marking  the  lapse  of 

time,  though  their  names  for  the  half  a  month, 
days  of  the  week  are  not  the  same  as 


1 88  REST  DAYS 

(twenty-nine  and  a  half  days)  does  not  permit  of  sub- 
division into  exactly  equal  parts. 

One  of  the  most  common  forms  of  the  week  is  the 
decade.  When  not  based  on  the  institution  of  the 
market,  it  seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that  this  cycle 
was  originally  suggested  by  the  increase,  culmination, 
and  decrease  of  the  moon^  as  shown  by  the  waxing 
crescent,  the  more  or  less  full  disk,  and  the  waning 
crescent.  If  it  be  held  that  the  arrangement  by  dec- 
ades was  based  rather  on  denary  arithmetic,  we  may 
at  least  feel  confident  that  it  would  not  have  been  chosen 
except  for  its  close  approximation  to  the  length  of  the 
lunar  month.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  such  a  sequence 
represents  the  true  course  of  the  lunation  in  days  more 
correctly  than  a  nine-day,  or  an  eight-day,  or  even  a 
seven-day  week.  A  division  of  the  month  into  decades 
is  definitely  attributed  to  the  Maori  of  New  Zealand, 
who  doubtless  were  obliged  to  count  only  nine  days  in 
the  third  and  last  decade  of  every  other  month.1  The 
arrangement  of  the  four  Hawaiian  tabu  periods,  of 
which  the  first  three  came  at  intervals  of  ten  days,  ar- 
gues strongly  in  favour  of  a  division  of  time  into  decades, 
or  anahulu.  This  term,  though  now  obsolete,  occurs 
frequently  in  ancient  legends  and  songs  as  a  measure 
of  time  comprising  ten  days.  The  fourth  monthly 
tabu  period,  sacred  to  the  god  Kane,  was  celebrated  on 
the  twenty-seventh  of  the  month,  only  three  days 
after  the  festival  of  Kaloa,  from  which  circumstance 
it  has  been  plausibly  regarded  as  of  later  introduction 
than  the  others.2  A  curious  division  of  the  month  into 

1  R.   Taylor,    TV  Ika  A  fifaui,  that  time,   and   Friday  was  te  ra 

London,  1855,  p.  177.     When  the  oka,   or   bleeding   day,    so   named 

Maori  adopted  the  European  week,  because     the     missionaries     killed 

they      gave     native      names      to  their  pigs  on  Friday  in  order  to  be 

three    of   the    weekdays.     Sunday  able  to  cut  them  up  on  Saturday 

they  called  "the  week,"    te   zviki,  and  dispose  of  them  before  Sun- 

because    on    that    day    the    week  day.     The  remaining  weekdays  had 

began,   Saturday  was  te  ra  horoi,  naturalized     names,     viz.,     manei, 

or  washing   and   cleaning-up   day,  turei,    wenerei,    and    tairei    (ibid., 

a  name  derived  from  their  obser-  pp.  176  sq.). 
vation    of    European    customs    at  2  Malo,    Hawaiian    Antiquities, 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     189 

parts  prevails  in  some  of  the  Caroline  Islands. 
In  Yap,  for  instance,  the  thirty-day  month  is  divided 
into  pul,  or  new  moon,  lasting  thirteen  days,  botrau, 
or  full  moon,  lasting  nine  days,  and  lumor,  or  darkness, 
continuing  to  the  end  of  the  month.1  Lunar  decades 
are  found  in  southeastern  Asia.  The  Chingpaw  or 
Kachin  of  Upper  Burma,  whose  primitive  year  consists 
of  twelve  lunar  months  uncorrected  by  intercalation 
and  arbitrarily  adjusted  to  the  successive  seasons,  recog- 
nize three  divisions  of  the  month,  each  of  ten  days' 
duration.  The  first,  called  shitta  pyaw,  includes  ten 
days  of  the  waxing  moon ;  the  last,  called  shitta  si, 
includes  ten  days  of  the  waning  moon.  The  interven- 
ing period  bears  no  special  name,  though  the  full  moon 
itself  is  called  shitta  lai.2  The  peoples  of  French  Indo- 
China  (Cochin-China,  Anam,  and  Tonkin)  regularly 
divide  the  month  into  three  decades,  but  this  arrange- 
ment is  now  being  gradually  superseded  by  the  Euro- 
pean week  of  seven  days.3  Probably  the  Indo-Chinese 
custom  was  borrowed  from  the  Chinese,  among  whom 
it  has  long  been  a  common  practice  to  speak  of  anything 
as  happening  in  the  first,  middle,  or  last  decade  of  any 
particular  month.4  A  similar  system  has  not  yet  be- 
come obsolete  in  Japan,  where  the  ten-day  periods  are 
known  as  the  upper,  middle,  and  lower  decades.5 
Various  African  peoples  use  the  ten-day  cycle.  Among 
the  Wagiriama  of  British  East  Africa  the  three  decades 

p.   54;    N.   B.   Emerson,  in  ibid.,  3  A.  Cabaton,  "Calendar  (Indo- 

p.  200;   Fornander,  Account  of  the  Chinese),"      Hastings's      Encyclo- 

Polynesian  Race,  i,  120  sq.     On  the  padia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  iii, 

Hawaiian     Sabbaths     see     above,  no. 

pp.  14  sq.,  88.  4  T.  L.  Bullock  and  L.  H.  Gray, 

Christian,     Caroline     Islands,  "Calendar  (Chinese),"  ibid.,  iii,  83. 

p.  394.  The  names  of  the  three  decades  are 

2  Gazetteer  of  Upper  Burma  and  said  to  be  shang,  chung,   and   hea 

the  Shan  States,  edited  by  Scott  and  (Robert  Morrison,  A  View  of  China 

Hardiman,   pt.   i,   vol.   i,   p.   434;  for  Philological  Purposes,   Macao, 

H.  J.  Wehrli,  Beitrag  zur  Ethnologie  1817,  p.  104). 

der  Chingpaw  (Kachin)   von  Ober-  5  E.    W.     Clement,    "Calendar 

Burma,  Leiden,  1904,  p.  68  (Inter-  (Japanese)/'    Hastings's    Encyclo- 

nationales  Archiv  fur  Ethnographie,  padia  of   Religion  and  Ethics,  iii, 

vol.  xvi,  Supplement).  115. 


190  REST  DAYS 

(makumi)  exist  side  by  side  with  the  market  week  four 
days  in  length.1  The  Sofalese  of  Portuguese  East 
Africa  are  said  to  have  divided  the  month  into  three 
periods  each  of  ten  days,  the  first  day  of  the  first  week 
being  the  festival  of  the  new  moon.2  Among  the 
Tofoke,  a  Congo  tribe,  the  lunar  month  consists  of 
three  parts,  reckoned,  respectively,  from  new  moon 
to  the  increasing  half  moon,  from  this  to  the  decreasing 
half  moon,  and  thence  to  the  end  of  the  month.  Each 
of  these  phases  bears  a  distinct  name.3  The  Ahanta 
of  the  Gold  Coast  divide  the  lunar  month  into  three 
periods,  two  of  ten  days'  duration,  and  the  third  last- 
ing till  the  next  new  moon  appears,  that  is,  for  about 
nine  days  and  a  half.4  These  decades  seem  to  be  quite 
independent  of  the  market  weeks,  sometimes  ten  days' 
long,  which  are  also  found  in  Africa.  On  the  other 
hand  the  Peruvian  decades,  previously  noticed,  were 
clearly  connected  with  the  institution  of  the  market.5 
The  sole  instance  of  a  week  discoverable  among  the  Indi- 
ans of  North  America  is  found  among  the  Zurii  of  north- 
eastern New  Mexico,  a  Pueblo  tribe  leading  a  sedentary 
existence  and  in  many  respects  advanced  in  culture.  By 
the  Zuni  "the  month  is  divided  into  three  parts,  each 
part  being  called  toplnta  as  temla,  'one  ten.'"  6 

1  Fitzgerald,  op.  cit.,  p.  in.  don,  1841,  p.  187).     An  old  writer 

2  De  Faria,  in  Astley's  A  New  asserts    that    the    negroes    living 
General  Collection  of  Voyages  and  inland  from  the  Gold  Coast  count 
Travels,    London,    1746,    iii,    397.  in  every  month  the  "great  fortu- 
The  eighth  day  of  the  new  moon  nate     time,"     nineteen     days     in  > 
was  considered  most  unlucky  by  the  length,   and  the  "lesser  fortunate 
Sofalese.     No  one  on  that  day  was  time,"    of   seven    days'    duration, 
allowed   to   attend   court  or  even  Between  these  periods  come  seven 
speak  to  the  king  (ibid.}.  ill  or  unfortunate  days  which  serve 

3  E.  Torday,  in  Mitteilungen  der  as  "a  sort  of  vacation  to  them,  for 
anthropologischen      Gesellschaft     in  then  they  do  not  travel,  till  their 
Wien,  1911,  xli,  200.  land,  or  undertake  anything  of  con- 

4  Ellis,  Yoruba-speaking  Peoples,  sequence,    but    remain    altogether 
p.    144.     The    first    period,    called  idle"    (W.    Bosnian,   A    New   and 
adai,    is     considered     lucky ;      the  Accurate  Description  of  the  Coast  of 
second,  called  ajamfo,  is  unlucky;  Guinea,  London,  1705,  p.  160). 
while  adim,  the  third  period,  has  a  6  Above,  pp.  119  sq.. 

neutral  character  (John  Beecham,  6  Mrs.     M.     C.     Stevenson,     in 

Ashantee  and  the  Gold  Coast,  Lon-       Twenty-third  Annual  Report  of  the 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     191 

A  ten-day  week  was  employed  in  antiquity  by  the 
Egyptians.  The  hieroglyphic  expression  meaning  "the 
ten  days"  is  found  in  inscriptions  belonging  to  the 
age  of  the  Pyramid-builders.  The  names  applied  to 
each  of  the  three  decades  —  hati,  that  of  the  beginning, 
abi,  that  of  the  middle,  and  pahu,  that  of  the  end  - 
are  perhaps  somewhat  less  ancient,  the  earliest  definite 
use  of  these  appellations  being  found  in  the  time  of  the 
Tenth  Dynasty.  The  decades  ran  continuously  from 
month  to  month.  Since  the  Egyptian  year  consisted 
of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days,  it  was  necessary, 
however,  in  alternate  years  to  begin  the  reckoning  of 
the  decades  on  the  sixth,  instead  of  on  the  first,  of  the 
month.  According  to  an  inscription  dating  from  the 
time  of  the  Third  Dynasty,  the  first  day  of  each  decade 
was  marked  by  sacrifices,  and  later  records  contain 
frequent  instances  of  a  religious  observance  of  this 
day.1 

The  Greek  decades  betray  in  their  names,  ptjv 
iora/iei/09  (waxing),  /utco-wi/  (central),  and  <f>0lv<t>v 
(waning),  an  association  with  the  moon.  The  days  of 
the  last  decade  were  usually  counted  backward ;  in 
"hollow"  months,  the  day  corresponding  to  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  "full"  months  was  omitted,  so  that  the  decade 
really  contained  only  nine  days.  By  the  Athenians 

Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  p.  79-90.     The  old  and  once  popular 

1 08.    It  is  only  right  to  add  that  Dr.  theory,    based    upon    a    misunder- 

J.  W.  Fewkes,  an  eminent  authority  standing    of    certain    passages    in 

on  the  Pueblo  Indians,  expressed  to  classical     writers     (Herodotus,     ii, 

me  in  conversation  (July,  1912)  his  82;    Dio  Cassius,  xxxvii,  19),  that 

doubts  as  to  the  correctness  of  Mrs.  the  Egyptians  originally  possessed 

Stevenson's   statement.  a  week  of  seven  days  has  now  been 

1  Lepsius,  Chronologic  der  A  gyp-  entirely      abandoned.     For     some 

ter,  i,  131  sqq.;  Brugsch,  Thesaurus,  monumental  evidence,  dating  from 

pt.  i,  488  sqq. ;    idem,  Agyptologie,  the  Twenty-second  Dynasty,  which 

p.   364.     On  the  astrological  con-  may  possibly  refer  to  an  hebdoma- 

nection  between  the  thirty-six  dec-  dal  cycle  then  used  in  astronomical 

ades  of  the  twelve  months  and  cer-  speculations,  see  G.  Daressy,  "La 

tain  constellations  see  G.  Daressy,  semaine   des   Egyptiens,"   Annales 

"Une    ancienne    liste    des    decans  du  service  des  antiquites  de  I'Egypte, 

egyptiens,"  Annales  du  service  des  1909,  x,  21-23,  180-182. 
antiquites     de     I'figypte,     1900,     i, 


192  REST  DAYS 

the  last  day  of  the  third  decade  was  styled  Ivi]  KOI  vea 
("old  and  new  moon") /as  being  the  day  which  belonged 
in  part  to  the  preceding  (theoretical)  month  of  twenty- 
nine  and  a  half  days  and  in  part  to  the  following  month. 
No  clearer  illustration  could  be  afforded  of  lunar  weeks 
adjusted  to  the  lunar  month.1  The  Greek  arrange- 
ment by  decades  must  have  been  very  old.  Unknown 
to  Homer,  it  appears  in  Hesiod's  Works  and  Days  side 
by  side  with  the  still  earlier  division  of  the  month  into 
two  parts  determined  by  full  moon.  Hesiod,  who  tells 
his  Boeotian  farmer  to  avoid  the  thirteenth  of  the  wax- 
ing month  for  the  commencement  of  sowing,  and  who 
declares  that  the  fourth,  whether  of  the  waning  or  of 
the  waxing  month,  is  "a  very  fateful  day,"  also  uses 
such  expressions  as  the  "first  sixth,"  "first  ninth," 
"middle  third,"  "middle  fourth,"  and  "the  fourth 
which  follows  the  twentieth  of  the  month."  2  This 
unequivocal  evidence  for  the  use  of  the  decades  as 
early  as  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century  B.C.  seems  to 
dispose  of  the  theory  3  that  they  were  an  importation 
from  Egypt. 

The  evidence  for  the  existence  of  weeks  of  nine  days 
is  very  obscure.  They  are  found  in  west  Africa,  but 
only  as  market  weeks  unconnected  with  the  lunation. 
Efforts  have  been  made  to  discover  traces  of  such 
periods  among  various  Indo-Germanic  peoples,  partic- 
ularly the  Greeks  of  the  Homeric  and  pre-Homeric 
age.4  There  are,  indeed,  numerous  illustrations  in  the 

1  Pollux,  Onomasticon,  i,  63 ;   G.  New   York,    1871,   ii,   58;     C.    E. 
F.    Unger,  in  Iwan    von    Miiller's  Ruelle,    "Calendarium,"     Darem- 
Handbuch    der    klassischen    Alter-  berg  and  Saglio's  Dictionnaire  des 
tumswissenschaft,  i,   563   sqq.;    M.  antiquites  grecques  et  romaines,   ii, 
P.  Nilsson,  "Die  alteste  griechische  832. 

Zeitrechnung,     Apollo     und     der  4  W.  H.  Roscher,  "Die  enneadi- 

Orient,"  Archivfur  Religionszuissen-  schen  und  hebdomadischen  Fristen 

schafty  1911,  xiv,  432  sq.  und  Wochen  der  altesten  Griechen," 

2  Hesiod,  Opera  et  dies,  765  sqq. ;  Abhandlungen   der  philologisch-his- 
compare  A.  W.  Mair,  Hesiod,  Ox-  torischen     Klasse     der     koniglich- 
ford,  1908,  pp.  165^.;  A.  Momm-  sdchischen  Gesellschaft  der  Wissen- 
sen,     Chronologie,    Liepzig,     1883,  schaften,  Leipzig,  1903,  xxi,  no.  4, 
p.  43.  pp.    14  sqq.;    idem,   "Die   Sieben- 

3  E.  Curtius,  History  of  Greece,  und     Neunzahl    im     Kultus     und 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK 


193 


older  literature  of  cycles  of  nine  days  (as  also  of  nine 
years),  but  no  evidence  at  all  that  these  were  ever 
employed  for  civil  purposes  as  regular  divisions  of 
the  month.  The  same  remark  applies  to  the  so-called 
weeks  of  nine  days  among  the  ancient  Germans,1  and 
to  the  frequent  mention  in  old  Irish  and  Welsh  texts 
of  periods  of  three  days  and  nights  and  of  nine  days 
and  nights.2 

Market  weeks,  eight  days  in  length,  which  seem  to 
have  developed  from  earlier  periods  of  four  days,  are 
found  in  Assam,  in  certain  parts  of  Africa,  perhaps  at 
one  time  among  the  Indians  of  Colombia,  and  in  an- 
tiquity among  the  Romans.3  Such  market  weeks  are 
independent  of  the  moon  and  run  unfettered  through 
the  months  and  years.  On  the  other  hand  a  week  of 
eight  days,  called  'sdmen,  which  exists  among  the 
northern  Abyssinians,  is  clearly  adjusted  to  the  length 
of  the  lunation.  Every  month  consists,  theoretically, 
of  four  weeks,  of  which  the  first  two  are  those  of  the 


Mythus  der  Griechen,"  ibid.,  1904, 
xxiv,  no.  i,  pp.  54,  69,  83. 

1  K.     Simrock,     Handbuch     der 
deutschen  Mythologie,9  Bonn,  1887, 
p.  156;    E.    Siecke,  Die   Liebesge- 
schichte   des   Himmels,   Strassburg, 
1892,   pp.   47  sqq.;    K.  Weinhold, 
"Die  mystische  Neunzahl  bei  den 
Deutschen,"      Abhandlungen      der 
k  oniglich-preussischen        Akademie 
der    Wissenschaften,    Berlin,    1897, 
pp.  40  sqq. 

2  R.  Thurneysen,  "  Die  Namen 
der  Wochentage  in  den  keltischen 
Dialecten,"  Zeitschrift  fur  deutsche 
Wortforschung,     1901,    i,     191.     J. 
Loth,  however,  regards  the  Celtic 
periods  as  having  been   employed 
as  ordinary  weeks   ("L'annee  cel- 
tique  d'apres  les  textes   irlandais, 
gallois,  bretons,  et  le  calendrier  de 
Coligny,"  Revue  celtique,  1904,  xxv, 
136).     He  accepts  Roscher's  theory 
of  the  sidereal  month  having  fur- 
nished the  basis  for  such  nine-day 


periods  as  are  found  among  the 
Celts,  and  argues  that  subse- 
quently, when  the  sidereal  month 
had  been  abandoned  for  the  synodic 
month,  the  nine-day  periods  became 
artificial  units,  independent  of  any 
connection  with  the  moon.  But  so 
strange  a  transition  as  that  from 
the  sidereal  to  the  synodic  month 
cannot  be  supported  by  any  Celtic 
evidence  and  has  no  analogy  among 
other  peoples.  For  another  theory 
see  Sir  John  Rhys,  Celtic  Heathen- 
dom? London,  1898,  pp.  361-366. 
3  Above,  pp.io6,  109.^.,  119  n.3, 
1 20  sq.  The  theory  advanced  by 
Theodor  Mommsen  that  the  Ro- 
man nundinum  originally  repre- 
sented a  quadripartite  division  of 
the  lunation  (Romische  Chronologie, 
pp.  240  sq.)  was  afterwards  aban- 
doned by  its  author  (Romisches 
Staatsrecht,  iii,  373).  Compare  also 
R.  Flex,  Die  dlteste  Monatseinteilung 
der  Romer,  Jena,  1880,  pp.  18  sqq. 


194  REST  DAYS 

increasing  moon  and  the  last  two  those  of  the  decreas- 
ing moon.  In  practice,  however,  the  people  are  com- 
pelled to  count  only  six  days  in  their  fourth  and  last 
week.1  This  Abyssinian  cycle  possibly  may  have  ori- 
ginated as  a  market  week,  since  elsewhere  in  Africa 
market  weeks  of  four  or  more  days  have  been  adjusted, 
somewhat  artificially,  to  the  length  of  the  lunation. 

Six-day  weeks,  connected  with  the  market  and  prob- 
ably derived  from  an  earlier  week  of  three  days'  dura- 
tion, are  found  In  Africa.2  There  are  also  a  few  in- 
stances of  the  same  cycle  where  a  connection  with  the 
market  does  not  certainly  appear.  The  Lolo,  Pula, 
and  other  aboriginal  tribes  of  southwestern  China 
keep  a  "Sabbath,"  as  a  rule  every  sixth  day.  No 
ploughing  may  take  place  at  this  time,  and  in  some 
places  the  women  are  not  allowed  even  to  sew  or  wash 
clothes.3  The  Bawenda,  who  occupy  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  Transvaal,  are  said  also  to  use  a  week 
of  six  days,  though  only  three  of  these  are  separately 
named.4 

The  numerous  five-day  weeks  found  in  the  Malay 
Archipelago,  southeastern  Asia,  and  Africa  all  exist  in 
connection  with  the  market.5  On  the  other  hand  this 
cycle  seems  to  be  sometimes  independent  of  the  market. 
An  Egyptian  calendar,  belonging  to  the  second  cen- 
tury  B.C.  but  probably  based  on  much  older  material, 
divides  the  year  for  astrological  purposes  into  weeks 
of  five  days,  each  week  corresponding  to  the  sixth  part 

1 E.  Littmann,  " Sternensagen  definitely  marked"  (Daniel  Mo 
und  Astrologisches  aus  Nordabes-  Gilvary,  A  Half  Century  among  the 
sinien,"  Archiv  fur  Religionswis-  Siamese  and  the  Lao,  New  York 
senschaft,  1908,  xi,  302  sq.,  319.  In  [1912],  p.  323).  Did  this  "Sab- 
order  to  adapt  the  'sdmen  to  the  bath"  originate  as  a  market  day, 
imported  hebdomadal  cycle,  Sun-  which  at  first  recurred  every  sixth 
day  is  counted  twice.  day  ? 

2  Above,  pp.  114  and  w.3,  116  n.1  4  E.  Gottschling,  in  Journal  of 

8  A.    Henry,   in   Journal  of  the  the  Anthropological  Institute,  1905, 

Anthropological      Institute,      1903,  xxxv,  382. 

xxxiii,    105.     The   Muhso,    a    Lao  5  Above,  pp.  103  sqq.,  108,  no, 

hill    tribe,    "have    a    twelfth-day  113  and  n.6,  114  and  n.3,  116  n.1 
Sabbath  or  sacred  day,  not  very 


.- 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE   WEEK     195 

of  one  of  the  signs  or  constellations  of  the  zodiac. 
The  calendar  also  gives  the  name  of  the  presiding 
deity  of  each  sign,  together  with  the  omens,  portents, 
and  favourable  or  unfavourable  characteristics  that 
belong  to  it.1  A  five-day  period,  khamushtu,  employed 
as  a  sixth  of  the  month,  appears  to  have  been  familiar 
to  the  Assyro-Babylonians  in  the  third  millenium  B.C. 
We  do  not  know  how  far  the  khamushtu  entered  into 
the  civil  life  of  the  Mesopotamian  peoples,  but  from  the 
circumstance  that  this  system  of  computing  short 
time-intervals  was  used  in  mercantile  and  monetary 
transactions  it  may  be  surmised  that  we  here  have  to 
do  with  a  very  ancient  form  of  the  market  week.2 
Babylonian  and  Assyrian  cuneiform  texts  also  contain 
traces  of  five-day  periods  associated  with  the  successive 
changes  of  the  moon  and  dedicated  to  various  divini- 
ties ;  but  it  is  not  certain  that  these  later  cycles  were 
derived  from  the  khamushtu*  The  whole  subject  is 
obscure  and  may  well  await  future  discoveries  for  its 
complete  elucidation.  Finally,  there  is  evidence  that 
the  old  Scandinavian  peoples  employed  time-intervals 
of  five  days,  of  which  six  were  counted  to  the  month. 
Here,  again,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  determine  how  far  this 
pentad,  called  fimt,  was  regularly  used  as  a  civil  week 
in  heathen  times.  After  the  introduction  of  the 

1  The     Oxyrhynchus         Papyri,  Hugo  Winckler  later  made,  inde- 
edited     by     Grenfell     and     Hunt,  pendently,  the  same  discovery.    See 
London,  1903,  pt.  iii,  126-137.  Sayce,  in  Proceedings  of  the  Society 

2  The     data     relating     to     the  of  Biblical  Archeology,    1897,   xix, 
khamushtu     are     found     in     some  288;     idem,   in   Babyloniaca,   1907, 
Cappadocian  tablets  discovered  by  ii,  1-45 ;   Winckler,  Altorientalische 
Golenischeff  and  others  in  mounds  Forschungen,    Leipzig,    1898-1900, 
not  far  from  Kaisariyeh.     This  city  ii,  91  sqq.y  354  sqq. 

was  a  colony  of  Assyria   and   the  3  For  references  to  the  cuneiform 

last  outpost  of  Assyrian  power  in  evidence     see     P.     Jensen,     "Die 

the  northwest.     The  tablets  are  in  siebentagige    Woche    in     Babylon 

Babylonian  cuneiform  script  belong-  und      Nineveh,"      Zeitschrift     fur 

ing  to  the  age  of  Hammurabi.     Pro-  deutsche     Wortforschung,     1901,     i, 

fessor  A.  H.  Sayce  in  1897  was  the  150     sq.;      W.     Muss-Arnolt,     in 

first  to  show  that  the  term  kham-  Journal  of  Biblical   Literature,   xi, 

ushtu    in    these    documents    repre-  94;    A.  Jeremias,    The  Old   Testa- 

sented  a  continuous  succession  of  ment    in    the    Light  of  the  Ancient 

five-day    periods;      and    Professor  East,  London,  1911,  i,  65. 


196  REST  DAYS 

hebdomadal  cycle  into  northern  lands,  the  term  sur- 
vived as  a  standing  phrase  in  Norse  laws  and  popular 
sayings.1 

The  preceding  pages  have  presented  much  evidence 
to  show  how  carefully  primitive  peoples  watch  the 
changes  of  the  moon  and  describe  them  by  appropriate 

;  names.  The  four  lunar  phases  provide,  indeed,  an 
obvious  means  of  calculating  the  passage  of  time ;  and 
they  are  often  used  for  this  purpose  in  the  absence  of 
any  recognized  calendrical  unit  shorter  than  the  lunar 
month.  The  length  of  the  lunation  being  approxi- 
mately twenty-nine  and  a  half  days,  a  single  phase 
occupies  about  seven  and  three-eighths  days,  which 

f  must  be  calendarized  as  seven  days,  since  it  is  necessary 
to  employ  a  round  number.  It  is  not  a  valid  argu- 
ment against  the  natural  origin  of  the  hebdomadal 
cycle  to  urge  that  seven  does  not  form  an  exact  division 
of  the  lunar  month.  No  other  number  will  divide 
the  lunation  without  a  remainder.  However,  the 
hebdomad  furnishes  a  less  satisfactory  time-unit  than 
the  decade,  the  former  falling  short  of  a  quarter  of 
the  month  by  more  than  nine  hours,  the  latter  exceed- 
ing a  third  of  the  lunation  by  rather  less  than  four 
hours.  This  circumstance  may  account  for  the  other- 
wise remarkable  fact  that,  while  the  ten-day  lunar 
week  is  found  in  many  parts  of  the  world,  the  week  of 
seven  days  occurs  in  the  lower  culture  and  among  peo- 
ples of  archaic  civilization  only  as  a  borrowed  insti- 
tution, which  can  be  traced  ultimately  to  Semitic 
lands  and  Semitic  antiquity. 

The  prevalence  of  the  seven-day  week  throughout 
the  world  furnishes  a  most  impressive  instance  of  the 
diffusion  of  a  cultural  element.  Its  introduction  into 
the  Pacific  area  during  the  nineteenth  century  and 

1 G,   Vigfusson,    An    Icelandic-  1892,  p.  418;    T.  F.  Troels-Lund, 

English  Dictionary,  Oxford,   1874,  Livsbelysning,    Copenhagen,    1904, 

s.v.  fimt;    Vigfusson   and  Powell,  pp.   13,   198.     For  the  translation 

Corpus  Poeticum   Boreale,  Oxford,  of  this  last  reference  I  am  indebted 

1883,  i,  pp.  cxx,  428;    F.  B.  Gum-  to  Mr.  N.  H.  Debel. 
mere,  Germanic  Origins,  New  York, 


• 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     197 

among  the  aborigines  of  America  as  the  result  of  their 
contact  with  European  civilization  is  well  known.1 
In  Africa  it  has  been  spread  by  Judaism,  Christianity, 
and  Islam ;  in  southeastern  Asia  and  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago the  original  disseminators  were  Hindus,  fol- 
lowed later  by  Arabs  and  Europeans.  This  imported 
week  has  sometimes  provided  a  cycle  of  time  shorter 
than  the  lunar  month,  where  none  existed  before;  in 
other  cases  it  has  supplanted  a  native  cycle  usually 
associated  with  the  market.  Together  with  the  week 
has  often  gone  the  Jewish,  Christian  or  Mohammedan 
rest  day. 

In  Madagascar  and  along  the  east  coast  of  Africa 
Arab  influence,  continuing  for  many  centuries,  naturally 
left  its  impress  on  the  calendar.  The  names  of  the 
Malagasy  weekdays  are  of  Arabic  origin.2  Previous 
to  the  introduction  of  Christianity  under  Radama  I 
(1810-1828)  no  rest  day  was  communally  observed, 
though  each  god  had  a  sacred  day  when  those  who  were 
its  special  votaries  abstained  from  work.3  The  Swa- 
heli,  who  occupy  the  coast  lands  north  and  south  of 
Zanzibar,  use  a  seven-day  week,  beginning  with  Friday, 
the  Mohammedan  Sabbath.4  Some  peculiar  arrange- 
ments are  found  among  the  Masai  of  eastern  equa- 
torial Africa,  a  warlike  race  clearly  distinguished  by 

1  The  Stseelis,  an  Indian  tribe  to  the  Arabic  seven-day  week  with 
of  British  Columbia,  have  a  singu-  its  numbered  weekdays,  the  Mala- 
lar  tradition   that  their   ancestors  gasy     also     use,     for     astrological 
used  to  observe  a  kind  of  Sabbath  purposes,    the    planetary    designa- 
ceremony  long  before  the  coming  tions  of  the  weekdays.     Of  these, 
of  the  whites.     The  people  assem-  three  are  good  or  lucky  days,  three 
bled  every  seventh  day  for  dancing  are  unlucky,  and  one  has  a  neutral 
and  praying.     It  is  impossible  to  character.     See  J.  Sibree,  "Divina- 
explain  this   tradition   apart  from  tion  among  the  Malagasy,"  Folk- 
European  influence  at  some  remote  lore,  1892,  iii,  220  sq. 

time  (C.  Hill-Tout,  in  Journal  of  3  Soury-Lavergne  and  de  la  De- 

the  Anthropological  Institute,   1904,  veze,  in   Anthropos,  1913,  viii,  310 

xxxiv,  329).  w.4;  James  Sibree,  The  Great  Afri- 

2  L.   Dahle,   "The   Influence  of  can  Island,  London,  1880,  p.  281. 
the  Arabs  on  the  Malagasy  Lan-  4  O.  Kersten,  editor,  Baron  Carl 
guage,"       Antananarivo      Annual,  Claus   von  der  Deckens  Reisen    in 
1875-1878,    i,    205.     In    addition  Ost-Afrika,  Leipzig,  1869,  i,  101. 


198  REST  DAYS 

language,  customs,  and  appearance  from  the  Bantu 
peoples.  The  Masai  seem  to  be  connected  with  the 
so-called  Nilotic  group,  and  their  ancient  home  has 
been  placed  in  the  region  between  Lake  Rudolf  and 
the  Nile.  At  the  present  time  they  dwell  much  farther 
south  both  in  British  and  German  territory.  The 
Masai  count  time  by  moon  months,  generally  taken  at 
thirty  days  in  length.  The  month  does  not  begin 
with  the  visible  new  moon,  but  on  the  fourth  day 
thereafter.  In  addition  they  have  a  week  of  seven 
days,  each  one  separately  named.  The  seventh  day, 
which  ends,  and  does  not  begin,  the  week,  is  called 
essubat  'n  olon,  "the  good  day."  According  to  Masai 
tradition  this  week  in  remote  times  began  on  the  new- 
moon  day,  but  now  it  is  reckoned  continuously  with- 
out regard  to  the  lunation.  Furthermore,  the  Masai 
appear  to  have  once  divided  the  months  into  decades, 
as  is  still  indicated  by  their  expression,  negera,  applied 
to  the  tenth,  twentieth,  and  thirtieth  days.  This 
term  comes  from  a  verbal  form  meaning  "to  be  silent."  1 
There  can  be  little  question  that  the  Masai  seven-day 
week  was  borrowed  from  Jewish  or  Christian  sources, 
while  the  decade  arrangement  may  have  been  affected 
remotely  by  cultural  contact  with  peoples  influenced 
by  ancient  Egypt.  Most  of  the  interior  tribes  of 
British  East  Africa  recognize  no  subdivision  of  the 
lunar  month.  But  among  the  Rendile  and  Burkeneji, 
who  inhabit  the  steppes  east  of  Lake  Rudolf,  we  find 
a  week  of  seven  days.  Three  of  these  days  are  marked 
by  restrictions.  The  first  day,  hahat,  is  a  fast  day, 
at  which  time  animals  cannot  be  slaughtered  for  food. 
On  the  second  day,  hura  hakhan  (hura  in  the  Rendile 
language  means  sun),  no  work  may  be  done,  except 
the  slaughtering  of  food  animals.  On  the  fifth  day, 
ser  hakhan,  people  will  not  travel,  move  their  grazing 
grounds,  or  make  cattle-medicine.  The  natives  are 
unable  to  identify  the  particular  days  of  their  week 

1  M.  Marker,  Die  Masai?  Berlin,      Sir  Charles  Eliot,  in  A.  C.  Hollis, 
1910,  pp.  157  sq.>  327  sq.;  compare       The  Masai,  Oxford,   1905,  p.  xiv. 


- 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     199 

with  those  of  the  European  cycle.1  Many  of  the 
Galla  tribes  between  Shoa,  a  kingdom  of  southern 
Abyssinia,  and  the  Tana  River  of  British  East  Africa, 
are  said  to  show  great  respect  for  Saturday  and  Sunday, 
and  on  these  days  do  not  work  in  the  fields.  Here  we 
may  legitimately  assume  Jewish  and  Christian  influ- 
ences from  Abyssinia,  especially  since  the  nomadic 
Galla  of  equatorial  Africa  do  not  seem  to  keep  any 
special  rest  days.2  Other  eastern  Hamitic  peoples, 
the  Somali,  Afar,  and  Danakil,  use  the  seven-day  week 
with  Arabic  names  and  observe  Friday,  the  Moham- 
medan Sabbath.3  The  seven-day  week  found  among 
the  natives  of  Kaffa,  a  region  of  eastern  Africa  on  the 
borderland  between  the  British  and  Italian  spheres 
of  influence,  appears  to  have  been  introduced  a  few 
centuries  ago  by  Christian  immigrants  from  Amhara, 
the  central  province  of  Abyssinia.4  The  spread  of 
Islam  among  the  Sudanese  and  Guinea  negroes  has 
resulted  in  the  introduction  of  the  hebdomadal  cycle 
and  of  the  custom  of  holding  markets  on  the  seventh 
day.5 

The  seven-day  week  in  India  has  a  long  history. 
The  original  division  of  the  Hindu  lunar  month  was, 
as  we  have  seen,  into  two  equal  parts,  determined  by 
the  waxing  and  the  waning  moon.  This  arrangement, 
which  still  prevails  in  India,  appears  to  have  been  the 
only  one  in  calendrical  use  until  long  after  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era.  It  is  true  that  even  in  Vedic 

1 C.   W.    Hobley,   Ethnology    of  etudes    ethnographiques    et   sociolo- 

the     A-Kamba     and     Other     East  giques,  1909,  ii,  38,  63. 
African    Tribes,  Cambridge,   1910,  8  Above,     pp.      115     sqq.      For 

p.  163.  further  instances  see  Anne  Raffenel, 

2  J.  L.  Krapf,  Travels,  Researches,  Nouveau   voyage  dans  le  pays  des 
and  Missionary   Labours,  London,  negres,   Paris,    1856,  i,  350   (Bam- 
1867,  p.  82.  bara);  H.  Gaden,  in  Revue  d'ethno- 

3  J.  W.  C.  Kirk,  A  Grammar  of  graphie  et  de  sociologie,  1912,  iii,  52 
the    Somali  Language,  Cambridge,  (Toucouleur     and     Mohammedan 
r9°5>     ?•     134;      P.     Paulitschke,  Peul  of  Senegal).     Among  the  Vey 
Ethnographie   Nordost-Afrikas.  Die  of  Liberia  the  week  of  seven  days 
geistige  Kultur  der  Danakil,  Galla,  must  be  due  to  Christian  influence 
und  Somal,  Berlin,  1896,  p.  224.  (J.      Biittikofer,     Reisebilder     aus 

4  F.    J.    Bieber,    in    Revue    des  Liberia,  Leiden,  1890,  ii,  317). 


200  REST  DAYS 

times  the  eighth  day  after  the  full  moon  was  regarded 
as  one  of  the  festival  days  of  the  month,  and  that,  at 
least  as  early  as  the  rise  of  Jainism  and  Buddhism  in 
the  sixth  century  B.C.,  the  eighth  day  after  new  moon 
was  added  to  the  list  of  holy  days.1  The  celebration 
of  four  lunar  festivals  does  not,  however,  imply  the  use 
of  a  civil  week  by  the  Hindus,  any  more  than  in  the 
case  of  the  Persian  festivals,  which  likewise  were  ad- 
justed to  the  phases  of  the  moon.2  The  hebdomadal 
cycle  in  India  was  entirely  a  borrowed  institution, 
derived  from  the  planetary  or  astrological  week,  the 
days  of  which  are  named  after  five  planets  and  the  sun 
and  moon.  By  the  middle  of  the  third  century  A.D., 
the  planetary  week  was  well  known  in  the  Roman 
world,  and  somewhat  later  it  was  introduced  as  an 
astrological  device  into  India.  Who  the  intermediaries 
were  —  whether  Hindus  who  visited  Mediterranean 
lands  or  learned  Greeks  who  made  the  voyage  to 
India'  —  it  is  impossible  to  say.  The  earliest-known 
genuine  instance  of  a  planetary  name  of  a  day  in  India 
occurs  in  an  inscription  belonging  to  the  year  484  A.D. 
By  the  end  of  the  eighth  century  there  are  perhaps  ten 
other  inscriptional  records,  coming  from  various  parts 
of  India  and  from  Indian  settlements  in  Java,  Cochin- 
China,  and  Cambodia,  of  the  assignment  of  the  week- 
days to  the  planets.  After  900  A.D.,  instances  of  this 
practice  are  more  numerous,  indicating  that  the  seven- 
day  week  had  now  become  something  more  than  an 
astrological  device  and  was  generally  recognized  for 
civil  purposes  as  a  part  of  the  Hindu  calendar.3  In 

1  Above,  p.  157  and  n.2  1896,  p.  2.    The  celebrated  astro- 

2  Above,  p.  166.  nomical  work  in  Sanskrit,  known 

3  J.  F.  Fleet,  "The  Use  of  the  as   the   Surya-Siddhanta,   contains 
Planetary  Names  of  the  Days  of  two    references    to    the    planetary 
the  Week  in  India,"  Journal  of  the  week  (i,  51-52,  xii,  78-79;    transl. 
Royal  Asiatic    Society,    1912,  n.s.,  Burgess- Whitney,  in  Journal  of  the 
xliv,   1039-1046.     For  lists  of  the  American  Oriental  Society,  1860,  v, 
more  common  planetary  names  of  175-178,   396),   and   in   the   Hito- 
the   weekdays,    as   now   found    in  padesa  (ed.  Johnson,  p.  16,  1.  411) 
India,    see    Sewell    and    Dikshit,  there    is    an    interesting    passage 
The     Indian     Calendar,     London,  which,  as  A.  W.  von  Schiegel  was 


w 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     201 


modern  India  every  day  of  the  week  has  its  sacred 
character  for  the  devotees  of  various  gods,  Sunday 
being  especially  consecrated  to  the  sun,  Monday,  to 
Siva,  and  Saturday,  to  the  monkey-god  Hanuman.1 
For  Hindus,  generally,  Sunday,  Tuesday,  and  Satur- 
day are  unlucky  days,  and  at  such  times  no  important 
business  will  be  undertaken  or  any  long  journey  begun.2 
India  was  the  center  from  which  the  planetary  week 
of  seven  days  was  first  introduced  into  southeastern 
Asia --into  Ceylon,  the  Maldive  Islands,  Nepal, 
Tibet,  Burma,  Cambodia,  and  Siam.3  The  Brah- 
manist  Chams  in  Cambodia  and  Anam  use  the  plane- 
tary weekdays  borrowed  from  Hinduism,  but  the 
Mohammedan  Chams  sometimes  employ  the  days  of 
the  Arabic  week  and  observe  Friday  as  a  Sabbath.4 
The  Laotians,  who  have  taken  over  the  planetary 
week  from  the  Siamese,  are  careful,  as  pious  Buddhists, 
so  to  adjust  their  calendar  that  Sunday  (van  athif) 
always  falls  on  the  eighth  and  fifteenth  days  of  the 
lunar  fortnight.5 


the  first  to  point  out  (Indisches 
Bibliothek,  1827,  ii,  178),  refers  to 
Sunday  as  a  sacred  day. 

1  Sir  M.  Monier-Williams,  Brdh- 
manism  and  Hinduism,*  New  York, 
1891,  p.  433  ;  W.  Crooke,  Natives  of 
Northern     India,     London,     1907, 
p.  226 ;  idem,  The  Tribes  and  Castes 
of  the  North-western  Provinces  and 
Oudh,  Calcutta,  1896,  Hi,  112. 

2  J.  A.  Dubois,  Hindu  Manners, 
Customs,  and  Ceremonies?  Oxford, 
1906,  p.  382. 

3  R.  Percival,  An  Account  of  the 
Island   of   Ceylon,    London,    1803, 
p.  187;   H.  C.  P.  Bell,  The  Maldive 
Islands,    Colombo,    1883,    p.    119; 
B.  H.  Hodgson,  Essays  on  the  Lan- 
guages, Literature,  and  Religion  of 
Nepal   and    Tibet,    London,    1874, 
p.  8 ;  E.  Schlaginweit,  Buddhism  in 
Tibet,  Leipzig  and  London,   1863, 

L289 ;   Shway  Yoe,  The  Burman,3 
ndon,    1910,    pp.    550    sq.;     E. 


Aymonier,  Le  Cambodge,  Paris, 
1900-1904,  i,  42,  ii,  19;  De  la 
Loubere,  A  New  Historical  Relation 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Siam,  London, 
1693,  ii,  168. 

4  A.  Cabaton,  in  Hastings's  En- 
cyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics, 
iii,   113,  345,  450.     On  the  other 
hand  a  week  of  seven  days,  found 
in  central  Asia,  has  been  borrowed 
from    Persia,    as    its    name     hafta 
from    the    Persian    heft,   "seven," 
indicates    (H.   Vambery,  Die   pri- 
mitive Cultur  des   turko-tatarischen 
Volkes,  Leipzig,  1879,  p.  160).     In 
northern  Asia,  again,  the  Russian 
advance  has  begun  to  lead  to  the 
use    of    the    seven-day    week    by 
native  tribes,  such  as  the  Yukaghir 
of  northeastern  Siberia  (W.  Jochel- 
son,   in   Memoirs  of  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  xiii,  42). 

5  Tournier,   Notice  sur  le    Laos 
fran$ais,  Hanoi,  1900,  p.  188. 


202  REST  DAYS 

The  Chinese  possess  no  regular  division  of  the  month 
into  weeks,  though  a  popular  cycle,  ten  days  in  length, 
has  long  been  found  among  them.  The  week  of  seven 
days  is  coming  into  use  in  commercial  centres  fre- 
quented by  Europeans,  where,  for  Monday,  Tuesday, 
etc.,  native  names  meaning  "first  day,"  "second  day," 
etc.,  have  been  coined.  The  assertion  that  the  Chinese 
from  of  old  have  been  familiar  with  the  seven-day 
week  appears  to  be  based  on  their  custom,  which  is 
not  of  extreme  antiquity,  of  applying  the  names  of  the 
twenty-eight  lunar  mansions  to  each  day  of  the  year 
in  rotation,  from  which  circumstance  the  same  four 
out  of  the  twenty-eight  always  fall  on  Sunday  and 
constitute  what  has  been  well  described  as  a  perpetual 
"Sunday  letter."  l  On  the  other  hand  there  is  definite 
evidence  that  the  planetary  week  was  introduced  from 
India  to  China,  where,  however,  it  seems  never  to 
have  been  employed  except  for  astrological  purposes. 
A  Chinese  translation,  made  in  the  eighth  century  A.D. 
of  an  Indian  treatise  on  astrology,  apportions  the  days 
of  the  week  among  the  planets,  according  to  the  astro- 
logical order.  Sunday  in  some  Chinese  almanacs 
is  still  called  the  "day  of  Mit,"  that  is,  the  day  of 
Mithra,  the  Persian  deity  associated  with  the  sun. 
This  "Sunday"  seems  formerly  to  have  had  a  place 
in  the  state  calendars  issued  under  imperial  auspices  at 
Peking.2  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  the  famous  Nestorian  Monument  bears  witness 
to  the  introduction  of  the  Christian  Sunday  into  China 
by  Nestorian  missionaries  from  Persia.3  But  the 

1  Robert  Morrison,  A   View  of  set  up  in  781  A.D.  in  the  department 
China    for    Philological    Purposes,  or  prefecture  of  Hsi-an,  province  of 
Macao,  1817,  pp.  52,  102;  idem,  A  Shen-hsi,  northwestern  China.     At 
Grammar  of  the  Chinese  Language,  the  end  of  the  inscription  on  it  we 
Serampore,  1815,  p.  54.  read:   "Erected  in  the  second  year 

2  A.  Wylie,  "On  the  Knowledge  of  the  period  Chien-chung  of  the 
of  the  Weekly  Sabbath  in  China,"  great  T'ang  dynasty,  the  year-star 
Chinese  Researches,  Shanghai,  1897,  being  in  Tso-yo,  on  the  seventh  day 
pt.  ii,  86-101 ;    J.  Edkins,  Chinese  of  the  first  month,  being  Sunday." 
Buddhism?  London,  1893,  p.  211.  See   James   Legge,    The   Nestorian 

3  The  Nestorian  Monument  was  Monument  of  Hsi-an  Fu  in   Shen- 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     203 

veek  of  seven  days  as  a  calendrical  entity  never  took 
root  among  the  Chinese,  nor  have  they  ever  observed 
a  weekly  day  of  rest.1 

In  old  Japan,  as  in  China,  the  week  of  seven  days 
was  unknown.  Shortly  after  the  restoration  of  the 
Mikado's  power  in  1867-1868  there  was  introduced 
what  were  called  the  ichi-roku,  or  holidays  on  the 
"ones"  and  "sixes"  of  each  month,  i.e.,  on  the  first, 
sixth,  eleventh,  sixteenth,  twenty-first,  twenty-sixth, 
and  thirty-first  days.  But  this  arrangement,  borrowed 
from  the  Christian  Sunday,  did  not  last  long,  and  the 
copy  soon  gave  way  to  the  original.  The  Japanese 
now  have  the  seven-day  week  with  names  derived 
from  the  Occidental  names.  Sunday,  in  vulgar  par- 
lance is  called  dontaku  (a  corruption  of  the  Dutch  Zon- 
tag)  and  Saturday,  in  equally  vulgar  parlance,  is  called 
han-don,  that  is,  "half-Sunday"  (because  the  modern 
English  Saturday  half-holiday  has  made  its  way  into 
Japan).2  On  Sunday  government  offices  and  schools 
are  closed.  In  the  cities  some  of  the  larger  banks  and 
mercantile  houses  also  suspend  their  business  on  Sun- 
day, but  as  a  rule  country  people,  artisans,  and  labour- 

hsi,  China,  London,  1888,  p.  29.  A  insanity  would  pftener  result  were 
replica  of  this  monument,  which  is  it  not  for  this  relaxation.  .  .  . 
a  limestone  block  ten  feet  in  height  Yet,  in  China,  people  who  appar- 
and  of  two  tons*  weight,  was  taken  ently  tax  themselves  uninterrupt- 
to  the  United  States  in  1908  and  edly  to  the  utmost  stretch  of  body 
now  rests  in  the  Metropolitan  Mu-  and  mind,  live  in  health  to  old  age. 
seum  of  Art,  New  York  City.  See  .  .  .  Nothing  like  a  seventh  day 
F.  V.  Holm,  "The  Holm  Nestorian  of  rest,  or  religious  respect  to  that 
Expedition  to  Sian,  MCMVII,"  interval  of  time,  is  known  among 
Open  Court,  1909,  xxiii,  18-28.  the  Chinese,  but  they  dp  not,  as  a 
1  "Some  persons,"  writes  an  people,  exercise  their  minds  to  the 
experienced  observer  of  the  Chinese,  intensity,  or  upon  the  high  sub- 
"have  expressed  their  surprise  jects,  common  among  western 
that  the  unceasing  round  of  toil  nations,  and  this  perhaps  is  one 
which  the  Chinese  labourer  pursues  reason  why  their  yearly  toil  pro- 
has  not  rendered  him  more  de-  duces  no  disastrous  effects"  (S.  W. 
graded.  It  is  usually  said  that  a  Williams,  The  Middle  Kingdom? 
weekly  rest  is  necessary  for  the  New  York,  1883,  i,  809  sq.}. 
continuance  of  the  powers  of  body  2  B.  H.  Chamberlain,  Things 
and  mind  in  man  in  their  full  Japanese?  London,  1891,  pp.  418 
activity,  and  that  decrepitude  and  sq. 


204  REST  DAYS 

ers  observe  no  weekly  day  of  rest.  By  people  of  the 
middle  and  highest  classes  Sunday  is  preeminently  a 
day  devoted  to  social  intercourse,  and  even  Japanese 
Christians,  after  attending  an  early  morning  church 
service,  feel  themselves  free  to  devote  the  afternoon 
and  evening  to  any  form  of  legitimate  recreation  or 
amusement.1 

The  planetary  cycle  is  not  unknown  in  the  Malay 
Peninsula,  though  here  employed,  as  it  seems,  solely 
for  astrological  purposes.  For  civil  purposes  weeks  of 
seven  days,  marked  by  the  return  of  Friday,  the  Mo- 
hammedan Sabbath,  are  in  general  use.2  Curious 
animistic  superstitions  sometimes  attach  themselves 
to  this  day.  Thus,  the  Malays  of  the  Patani  States 
believe  that  the  spirits  have  extra  power  over  man- 
kind on  Friday,  hence  many  people  will  not  take  shelter 
under  a  tree  at  any  time  on  this  day,  lest  the  spirits 
sitting  in  the  tree  dive  down  into  them.  This  precau- 
tion especially  applies  to  travellers,  whose  bodies  are 
weary  and  whose  souls  are  therefore  weak.  Some 
Malays  who  have  wooden  chests  in  which  they  store 
their  finery  and  treasures  dare  not,  on  Friday,  lift 
the  lid  of  one  of  these  receptacles,  because  then  the 
chest's  soul  (semangaf)  might  escape.  Henceforth  the 
chest  would  become  a  dead  thing  and  all  luck  would 
desert  its  owner.  Patani  fishermen  on  Friday  always 
make  offerings  to  the  semangat  of  their  boats.3 

The  seven-day  week  in  the  Malay  Archipelago 
exists  both  as  a  Hindu  institution  of  remote  origin 
and  also  as  an  outcome  of  the  expansion  of  Islam  over 
this  region.  The  Achehnese  in  northern  Sumatra 
have  not  only  borrowed  the  hebdomad  from  the  Mo- 
hammedans, but  go  so  far  as  to  make  Friday  a  day 
pantang  for  all  agricultural  work,  pantang  being  the 
native  term  for  taboo.4  Among  the  natives  of  the 

1  Arthur  Lloyd,  Every-day  Japan,  3  Annandale  and  Robinson,  Fas- 

London,  1909,  pp.  371  sq.  ciculi   Malayensis,   London,    1903- 

2W.  W.    Skeat,   Malay   Magic,  1904,  i,  80  sq.,  100;  ii,  30,  55. 

London,      1900,      pp.      548      sq.,  4  C.  S.  Hurgronje,  The  Achehnese, 

554.  Leiden,  1906,  i,  236,  261. 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     205 


Kuantan  District  the  seven  weekdays  bear  names 
derived  from  the  Arabic.1  On  the  other  hand  the 
Batta  of  Lake  Toba  possess  a  calendar  derived  from 
Hindu  sources  and  also  a  week  of  seven  days,  with 
planetary  names  clearly  taken  from  the  Sanskrit. 
But  the  Batta  magicians,  who  use  this  cycle  for  astro- 
logical purposes,  do  not  now  recognize  its  planetary 
origin ;  they  know  only  the  sun,  the  moon,  and,  pos- 
sibly, Venus.  To  the  Batta  ari  na  pitu,  the  seventh 
day,  is  an  evil  day,  and  he  who  ventures  to  begin  any 
work  upon  it  will  surely  be  visited  by  some  grave  mis- 
fortune.2 In  districts  of  Sumatra  where  neither  Hindu 
nor  Arabic  influence  has  penetrated,  a  division  into 
weeks  is  unknown,  the  natives  counting,  instead,  by 
the  days  of  the  moon's  age.3  In  Java  the  Hindu 
planetary  week  was  combined  with  the  still  earlier 
market  week  of  five  days  in  the  eighth  and  ninth 
centuries,  A.D.,  and  since  that  time  the  Arabic  desig- 
nations of  the  seven  weekdays  have  also  been  intro- 
duced.4 A  similar  combination  of  the  two  cycles, 
yielding  a  period  of  thirty-five  days,  occurs  in  Bali.5 
In  Macassar,  a  former  native  kingdom  of  Celebes,  the 
Mohammedan  Sabbath  is  observed.6 

The  foregoing  pages  make  it  clear  that  the  spread 
of  Mohammedan   rule  both   in  Asia   and  Africa   has 

1  A.     Maass,     Durch      Zentral-  feel    compelled    to    abstain    from 
Sumatra,  Berlin,  1910,  p.  513.  labour  entirely   upon   any   day  of 

2  J.  Winkler,  "  Der  Kalender  der  the  week  —  not  even  on  a  Friday 
Toba-Bataks  auf  Sumatra,"   Zeit-  — to   satisfy- his   religious   beliefs. 
schrift  fur   Ethnologic,    1913,    xlv,  He  works  as  long  as  he  needs  to 
441  sqq.  work;     but   only    too   often    only 

3  W.   Marsden,    The    History  of  just  so  long.     His  village  holidays 
Sumatra?    London,   1811,   p.    194.  are  numerous"  (A.  Cabaton,  Java, 

4E.  Metzger, "  Uber  die  Zeitrech-  Sumatra,  and  the  Other  Islands  of 

nung      der      Javanen,"     Deutsche  the  Dutch  East  Indies,  London  and 

Rundschau     fur     Geographic     und  Leipzig,  1911,  pp.  125  sq.}. 

Statistik,  1887,  ix,  311 ;   P.  J.  Veth,  6  R.  Friederich,  in  Journal  of  the 

Java,2  Haarlem,   1907,  iv,  297  sq.  Royal  Asiatic   Society,    1878,    n.s., 

A  recent  observer  points  out  that,  x,  89,  93. 

although    the    life    of   a    Javanese  6  An    Historical    Description    of 

village  is  never  intensely  laborious,  the  Kingdom  of  Macasar,  London, 

it  is,  in  a  sense,  a  life  of  continuous  1701,  p.  149. 
labour,  "for  the  Javanese  does  not 


206  REST  DAYS 

introduced  the  week  of  seven  days  into  regions  where 
it  had  not  previously  found  entrance.  The  Arabs 
themselves  adopted  the  week  from  the  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians, presumably  at  the  time  of  their  conversion  to 
Islam.1  In  the  Arabic  week  the  days  from  Sunday 
to  Thursday  are  numbered  in  their  order,  Friday  is 
called  aljum^ a  "the  meeting"  (for  worship),  and  Satur- 
day, as  sabt,  "the  Sabbath."  On  Friday,  according 
to  the  rule  laid  down  by  Mohammed,  the  faithful  are 
to  take  part  in  the  midday  prayer  at  the  mosque  and 
to  listen  to  the  sermon  which  follows  the  prayer. 
Labour  is  suspended  during  the  service,  but  at  its 
close  secular  vocations,  including  marketing,  are  re- 
sumed. The  Mohammedean  jum'  a,  unlike  the  Jewish 
Sabbath,  but  like  the  early  Christian  Sunday,  is  not  a 
day  of  rest.2 

The  seven-day  week  has  now  been  traced  over  a 
large  part  of  the  globe.  It  sometimes  exists  as  a 
planetary-astrological  cycle  of  pagan  derivation ;  in 
other  cases  its  presence  is  obviously  due  to  Jewish, 
Christian,  or  Mohammedan  influence.  In  no  region 
does  the  hebdomadal  cycle  appear  as  an  independent 
product  of  the  native  culture.  The  inquiry  into  its 
remote  origin  and  connection  with  the  cult  of  the  num- 
ber seven  takes  us  back  to  the  ancient  Oriental  world. 

It  is  a  familiar  fact  that  many  people  attach  to  cer- 
tain numbers  a  sacred  or  symbolic  meaning.3  Such 

1 T.  Noldeke,  "Die  Namen  der  societes    inf ensures,     Paris,     1910, 

Wochentage    bei     den     Semiten,"  pp.  235-257;   D.  G.  Brinton,  "The 

Zeitschrift    fur    deutsche     Wortfor-  Origin  of  Sacred  Numbers,"  Ameri- 

schung,  1901,  i,  162;  J.  Wellhausen,  can  Anthropologist,  1894,  vu>  J68- 

Reste  arabischen  Heidentums?  Ber-  173 ;    idem.  The  Myths  of  the  New 

lin,  1897,  p.  142.  World?  Philadelphia,  1896,  pp.  83- 

2  Koran,  Ixii,  9  sq.  (S.  B.  E.,  ix,  119;     W.    J.    McGee,    "Primitive 
283) ;    T.  P.  Hughes,  Dictionary  of  Numbers/'  Nineteenth  Annual  Re- 
Islam,  London,  1885,  pp.  131,  666;  port    of   the    Bureau    of   American 
idem,   "The   Mosque   Life   of  the  Ethnology,    pt.    ii,    821-852;     W. 
Muslim,"    Open    Court,    1906,    xx,  Schultz,   "Gesetze   der  Zahlenver- 
335;  T.W.  Juynboll,"  Djum'a,"  The  schiebung     im     My  thus     und     in 
Encyclop&dia  of  Islam,  i,  1061  sq.  mythenhaltiger         Uberlieferung," 

3  See  in  general  L.  Levy-Bruhl,  Mitteilungen   der   anthropologischen 
Les    fonctions    mentales    dans    les  Gesellschaft  in  Wien,  1910,  xl,  101- 


. 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND   THE  WEEK     207 

mystic  numbers,  unlike  those  of  ordinary  arithmetic, 
are  real  categories  in  which  thought  naturally  rests; 
they  are  not  fortuitous  counts  of  objects^  but  are 
rather  subjective  syntheses  —  cadres  donnes  tfavance  - 
according  to  which  the  mind  divides  up  and  parcels 
out  all  things  visible  and  invisible.  Like  names  they 
may  become  virtual  entities  endowed  with  their  own 
functional  power.  The  symbolism  and  superstitions 
attaching  to  certain  numbers,  which  we  discover  in 
the  records  of  all  archaic  civilizations,  must  be  based 


150;    R.  Hirzel,  "Uber  Rundzah- 
len,"    Berichte    uber   die    Ferhand- 
lungen  der  philologisch-historischen 
Klasse     der     koniglich-sdchsischen 
Gesellschaft,  Leipzig,   1885,  xxxvii, 
1-74;    E.  Kautzsch,  "Zahlen,"  in 
Herzog,  Plitt,  and  Hauck's  Real- 
encyklopddie      fur      protestantise  he 
Theologie    und    Kirche?    xx,    598- 
607;     A.    Bergaigne,    La    religion 
vedique,    Paris,    1883,   ii,    114-156; 
E.  W.  Hopkins,  "The  Holy  Num- 
bers of  the  Rig-Veda"  in  Oriental 
Studies,  Boston,  1894,  pp.  141-159; 
E.  Wolfflin,  "Zur  Zahlensymbolik," 
Archiv  fiir  lateinische  Lexikographie 
und  Grammatik,   1895,  ix,  33~353; 
I.    Goldziher,    "tJber   Zahlenaber- 
glauben  im  Islam,"   Globus,   1901, 
Ixxx,  31-32.     For  collections  of  the 
evidence  relating  to  the  sacredness 
of  certain  numbers  see  B.   Stade, 
"Die    Dreizahl    im    Alten    Testa- 
ment,"  Zeitschrift  fiir  die  alttesta- 
mentliche  Wissenschaft,  1906,  xxvi, 
124  sqq.;    H.  Usener,  "Dreiheit," 
Rheinisches  Museum  fiir  Philologie, 
1903,    n.s.,    Iviii,    1-47,    161-208, 
321-362;      Anne     W.     Buckland, 
"Four     as     a     Sacred     Number," 
Journal  of  the  Anthropological  In- 
stitute^ 1896,  xxv,  96-102;    F.  X. 
Kugler,  "Die  Symbolik  der  Neun- 
zahl    bei    den     Babyloniern,"     in 
Assyriologische    und    archdologische 
Studien      Hermann      v.      Hilprecht 
gewidmet,  Leipzig,   1909,   pp.   3°4~~ 
309;     A.    Kaegi,    "Die    Neunzahl 


bei    den    Ostariern,"    in    Philolo- 

gische  Abhandlungen  fiir  Heinrich 

Schweizer-Sidler,  Zurich,  1891,  pp. 

50-70;    K.  Weinhold,  "Die  mys- 

tische    Neunzahl    bei    den    Deut- 

schen,"    Abhandlungen   der   konig- 

lich-preussischen  Akademie  der  Wis- 

senschaften,  Berlin,  1897,  pp.  1-61  ^ 

Edgar    Thurston,    "The    Number 

Seven     in     Southern     India,"     in 

Essays    and    Studies    presented    to- 

William      Ridgeway,      Cambridge, 

1913,  PP-  353-364;  W.  H.  Roscher, 

"Die  enneadischen  und  hebdoma- 

dischen   Fristen   und  Wochen   der 

altesten   Griechen,"   Abhandlungen 

der  philologisch-historischen  Klasse 

der  koniglich-sdchsischen  Gesellschaft 

der  Wissenschaften,  Leipzig,   1903, 

xxi,  no.  4;   idem,  "Die  Sieben-  und 

Neunzahl  im  Kultus  und  Mythus 

der   Griechen,"    ibid.,    1904*   *xiv, 

no.   i ;    idem,  "  Die  Hebdomaden- 

lehren  der  griechischen  Philosophen 

und  Arzte,"  ibid.,  1904*  xxiv,  no  6; 

idem,  "Enneadische  Studien,"  ibid., 

1907,  xxvi,  no.  i ;   idem,  "Die  Zahl 

40     im     Glauben,     Brauch,     und 

Schrifttum     der    Semiten,"  ^ibid., 

1909,  xxvii,   no.   4;    idem,  "Uber 

Alter,    Ursprung,    und    Bedeutung 

der    hippokratischen    Schrift    von 

der  Siebenzahl,"  ibid.,  1911,  xxviii, 

no.  5  ;  idem,  "  Die  Tessarakontaden 

und     Tessarakontadenlehren     der 

Griechen     und     anderer    Volker," 

Berichte    uber    die    Verhandlungen* 

etc.,  Leipzig,  1909,  Ixi,  17-206. 


208  REST  DAYS 

on  very  primitive  modes  of  thinking,  since  a  similar 
tendency  toward  mysticism  in  the  use  of  numbers 
appears  among  half-civilized  peoples.  It  is  a  tendency 
to  whose  development  no  bounds  can  be  set,  once  the 
refining  ingenuity  of  the  priestly  class  has  begun  to 
elaborate  the  concept  of  the  "sacred"  as  opposed  to 
that  of  the  "profane."  It  seems  obvious,  therefore, 
that  the  systems  of  sacred  numbers,  found  in  ancient 
India,  Babylonia,  Greece,  and  other  cultural  areas, 
incorporate  many  items  of  folk  superstition  together 
with  the  results  of  much  speculative  activity  on  the 
part  of  early  organizers  of  religion. 

It  would  be  hard  to  find  any  number  in  the  first 
decade  which  has  not  been  invested,  by  this  or  that 
society,  with  a  mystical  significance.  Seven,  in  partic- 
ular, has  enjoyed  a  marked  importance  among  many 
peoples  widely  separated  in  space  and  time.1  As  a 
symbolic  number  it  occurs  among  the  Babylonians, 
Greeks,  and  Hindus  at  the  very  dawn  of  their  history ; 
and  it  still  figures  prominently  in  the  popular  lore  of 
India,  China,  and  southeastern  Asia.  Cultural  influ- 
ences emanating  from  the  Asiatic  mainland  appear 
to  have  introduced  the  symbolism  of  seven  into  cer- 
tain parts  of  Oceania  and,  notably,  into  Borneo.  Of 
the  Sea  Dyak  of  Sarawak  it.  is  said  that,  after  three, 
their  favourite  number  is  seven ;  while  among  the 
Malanau,  another  Sarawak  tribe,  seven  is  very  promi- 
nent in  rites  of  exorcism.2  The  same  number  occurs 
repeatedly  in  the  legends  of  the  Dusun  of  British  North 
Borneo,  and  its  mystic  significance  may  account  in 
part  for  the  curious  system  of  unlucky  days  observed 
by  them.  The  Dusun  consider  twelve  days  of  the 
month,  beginning  with  the  seventh  and  including  also 
the  fourteenth  and  twenty-first,  as  distinctly  bad  for 

1  For  a  large  collection  of  evi-  2  Brooke  Low,  in  H.  L.  Roth, 

dence  see   F.   von   Andrian,   "  Die  The  Natives  of  Sarawak  and  British 

Siebenzahl     im     Geistesleben     der  North  Borneo,  London,  1906,  i,  231 ; 

Volker,"    Mitteilungen   der   anthro-  Hose  and  McDougall,    The  Pagan 

polo gisc hen    Gesellschaft    in    Wien,  Tribes  of  Borneo,  London,  1912,  ii, 

1901,  xxxi,  225-274.  134  sq. 


LUNAR  CALENDARS   AND   THE  WEEK     209 


agricultural  labour.  At  such  times  they  refrain  from 
going  to  their  rice-fields,  under  penalty  of  failure  of 
the  crop,  but  other  work  than  that  on  the  farms  may 
sometimes  be  performed.  The  natives  cannot  furnish 
any  explanation  of  the  evil  quality  of  these  days.1 
A  peculiar  observance  of  the  seventh  day  is  found  in 
some  parts  of  Melanesia.  When  the  first  missionaries 
visited  the  New  Hebrides  and  introduced  the  European 
week  with  Sunday  as  a  day  of  rest,  the  natives  were 
much  astonished  to  learn  that  the  whites  were  also 
familiar  with  their  bugi  kai  bituki,  or  evil  day.  These 
Melanesians  had  never  recognized  any  time-divisions 
shorter  than  the  lunar  month,  but  it  had  long  been  a  cus- 
tom among  them  to  mark  the  seventh  day  by  certain 
taboos.  The  natives  would  not  engage  in  warfare  on  the 
seventh  day  after  the  declaration  of  hostilities  ;  nor  would 
they  attempt  to  execute  vengeance  on  the  seventh  day 
after  the  receipt  of  an  insult.2  The  two  prohibitions 
perhaps  represent  the  broken-down  form  of  a  system  of 
taboos  at  one  time  much  more  extensive.  Elsewhere  in 
the  Pacific  area  (New  Guinea,  Australia,  and  Polynesia) 
seven  does  not  seem  to  possess  any  special  significance. 
The  mystic  qualities  of  seven  are  recognized  in 
Africa,  but  only  where  foreign  influences  have  pene- 
trated. Among  the  Wachaga  of  German  East  Africa 
the  seventh  month  of  the  year  is  most  unlucky  :  houses 
are  not  built,  or  marriages  celebrated,  or  fields  planted, 
or  wars  begun,  during  this  fateful  time.3  The  Wagi- 
riama  and  Wasania,  Bantu  tribes  living  in  the  south- 
eastern corner  of  British  East  Africa,  observe  the 
symbolism  of  seven  in  birth,  circumcision,  and  mourn- 
ing ceremonies.4  The  Akikuyu  attach  a  very  special 


. 


I.  H.  N.  Evans,  "Notes  on  the  thropos,  1912,  vii,   1057;    compare 

eligious      Beliefs,      Superstitions,  ibid.,  50  n> 

Ceremonies,    and    Tabus    of    the  3  M.     Merker,     in     PeUrmanns 

Dusuns,"  Journal  of  the  Royal  An-  Mitteilungen,  1902,  Erganzungsheft, 

thropological    Institute,    1912,    xlii,  no.  138,  p.  25. 
394  Sq.  4  W.  E.  H.  Barrett,  in  Journal 

2  Suas,  "Le  septieme  jour  aux  of  the  Royal  Anthropological  Insti- 

Nouvelles  Hebrides,  Oceanic,"  An-  tute,  1911,  xli,  22,  31  sq.,  34. 


210  REST  DAYS 

ill-luck  to  the  seventh  day.  A  herdsman  will  not  herd 
his  flocks  for  more  than  six  days,  and  on  the  seventh 
he  must  be  relieved  by  another  man.  One  who  has 
been  away  on  a  journey  for  six  days  will  not  return  to 
his  village  on  the  seventh ;  sooner  than  do  so  he  will 
go  and  sleep  at  the  house  of  a  neighbour  a  short  dis- 
tance away.  Were  this  rule  broken,  he  would  cer- 
tainly be  struck  down  by  some  serious  illness,  and  a 
medicine-man  would  have  to  be  called  in  to  remove 
the  curse.  "This  belief,"  we  are  told,  " makes  it  easy 
for  the  missionaries  to  explain  to  the  Akikuyu  the  force 
of  the  Christian  observance  of  the  Sabbath."  1  Seven 
is  also  one  of  the  unlucky  numbers  of  the  Nandi.2 
The  seven-day  periods  kept  as  Sabbaths  by  some  of 
the  Baganda  and  the  seven-day  week  with  three  days 
marked  by  taboos,  found  among  the  Rendile  and 
Burkeneji,  have  been  previously  noticed.3  In  some 
parts  of  Abyssinia  and  Somaliland  we  find  not  only  a 
week  of  seven  days  but  also  cycles  of  seven  months  and 
seven  years,  with  seven  as  a  distinctively  holy  num- 
ber.4 In  west  Africa,  besides  the  adoption  of  a  seven- 
day  week  as  the  result  of  Mohammedan  influence, 
there  is  also  a  symbolic  use  of  seven  in  native  folk- 
tales,5 thus  providing  an  instructive  parallel  to  the  same 
feature  in  European  stories.  The  frequent  occurrence 
of  the  symbolic  seven  in  the  magic  and  astrology  of 
north  African  peoples  must  also  be  attributed  to  the 
spread  of  Islam  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Sudan.6 
If  the  cult  of  seven  in  the  Pacific  area  and  Africa 
appears  clearly  as  a  borrowed  institution,  no  other 
explanation  than  that  of  independent  origination  can 
account  for  the  fact  that  some  American  Indian  tribes 

1  C.  W.  Hobley,  ibid.,  1910,  xl,  4  Above,  p.  199. 

439  sq.     Seven  among  the  Akikuyu  6  E.   Dayrell,  Folk  Stories  from 

is  of  all  numbers  the  most  unlucky  Southern     Nigeria,     West     Africa, 

in  divination  (Routledge  and  Rout-  London,  1910,  nos.  xxx-xxxii,  xxxiv, 

ledge,  With  a  Prehistoric  People,  pp.  xxxviii,  etc. 
264,  274).  6  E.    Doutte,    Magie   et   religion 

2  Hollis,  Nandi,  p.  89.  dans    V Afrique    du    nord,    Algiers, 

3  Above,  pp.  145  sq.,  198  sq.  1909,  pp.  184  sqq. 


LUNAR   CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     211 


also  ascribe  a  peculiar  sanctity  to  this  number.  In 
the  opinion  of  most  Americanists  the  symbolism  of 
seven  is  here  an  outgrowth  of  cosmical  conceptions  of 
the  four  cardinal  points,  reinforced  by  conceptions  of  a 
central,  an  upper,  and  a  lower  world.  Seven  is  thus 
the  most  sacred  number  because  it  represents  all  the 
regions  of  the  cosmos.1  This  explanation  cannot  be 
safely  applied  outside  the  American  area. 

The  antiquity  of  the  symbolism  of  seven  in  the  Old 
World  is  attested  by  its  appearance  as  a  sacred  num- 
ber in  the  earliest  literary  records  of  India,  Greece, 
and  Babylonia.  Numerous  references  to  seven  occur 
in  the  Rig-Veda,  where,  however,  it  enjoys  less  impor- 
tance than  three.2  Periods  of  seven  days  and  seven 
years  are  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Odyssey*  Hesiod 
includes  the  seventh  day  of  the  month  in  his  list  of 
holy  days  (e/jSd/xr/  iepbv  ^fta/>),  "for  on  the  seventh 
day  Leto  bare  Apollo  of  the  golden  sword" ;  and  this 
particular  connection  with  the  seventh  day  was  main- 
tained by  the  god  in  the  later  age  of  Greek  history. 
Most  of  his  great  festivals  began  on  the  seventh  day, 
at  which  time  all  public  business  appears  to  have 
ceased.4  Many  other  illustrations  exist  of  the  large 


1  The  Zuni  priests  preserve  a 
ceremonial  diagram  of  the  seven 
"  Ancient  Spaces,"  or  primeval 
cosmogonic  areas,  representing 
north,  east,  south,  west,  the  zenith, 
the  nadir,  and  the  middle.  The 
observer  is  always  supposed  to 
stand  in  the  central  space.  For  il- 
lustrations of  the  seven-cult  among 
the  American  Indians  see  J.  W. 
Powell,  in  F.  H.  Gushing,  Zuni 
Folk  Tales,  New  York,  1901, 
pp.  xii  sq.;  S.  Hagar,  "Cherokee 
Star-lore,"  in  Boas  Anniversary 
Volume,  New  York,  1906,  p.  361 ; 
J.  O.  Dorsey,  in  Sixth  Annual  Re- 
port of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
P-  397  (Osage,  Kansa,  Omaha, 
Dakota,  and  Ponka  tribes) ;  Jean 
L'Heureux,  in  Journal  of  the  An- 


thropological Institute,  1886,  xv, 
303  (Blackfoot);  D.  G.  Brinton, 
The  Lendpe  and  their  Legends, 
Philadelphia,  1885,  pp.  139  sq. 

2E.  W.  Hopkins,  "The  Holy 
Numbers  of  the  Rig-Veda"  in 
Oriental  Studies,  Boston,  1894, 
pp.  141,  144  sq.;  compare  A.  Ber- 
gaigne,  La  religion  vedique,  Paris, 
1883,  ii,  123,  127. 

3  Odyssey,   x,   8l,   xii,   399,   xiv, 
252,  288,  xv,  477. 

4  Opera  et  dies,  770  sq. ;  Herodo- 
tus, vi,  57 ;  ^Eschylus,  Septem  contra 
Thebas,  800;    Plutarch,  Qu&stiones 
conviviales,   viii,    I,   2;    Lydus,  De 
mensibus,  ii,  12.     The  seventh  day 
of  each  month  was  a  holiday  for 
Greek  children,  in  remembrance  of 
Apollo's   birth   on   the   seventh   of 


212 


REST  DAYS 


symbolic  role  played  by  the  number  seven  in  Greece 
at  a  remote  period.1  Among  the  Babylonians,  as 
early  as  the  third  millenium  B.C.,  seven  appears  as  a 
symbolic  number  in  magico-religious  rituals,  incanta- 
tions, exorcisms,  and  mythological  narratives.2  Thus, 
in  the  Babylonian  version  of  the  Deluge  myth,  periods 
of  seven  days'  duration  assume  a  marked  importance : 
the  rain  continues  for  six  days  and  ceases  on  the  seventh, 
when  the  waters  begin  to  subside ;  and  seven  days  again 
intervene  before  the  Babylonian  Noah  is  able  to  aban- 
don the  Ark  and  offer  sacrifice  to  the  gods  for  his 
preservation.  The  exceptional  importance  which  this 
number  enjoyed  in  Babylonia  lends  credibility  to  the 
theory  that  here  was  the  centre  from  which  the  lore  of 
seven  passed  to  adjoining  regions  of  western  Asia  and 
thence  to  more  distant  parts  of  the  ancient  world.3 


Thargelion  (Lucian,  Pseudologistes, 
1 6).  The  first  and  twentieth  of  the 
month  were  also  consecrated  to 
Apollo,  who  received  in  consequence 
the  cult  titles^ 'E/J&yiayenjs,  Neo- 
/MT/VIOS  and  Ei/caSios.  According  to 
Plutarch  (Dion,  23),  a  festival  of 
Apollo  was  also  celebrated  on  the 
fifteenth  of  the  month.  On  the 
seventh  day  in  Greece  see,  further, 
L.  R.  Farnell,  The  Cults  of  the  Greek 
States,  Oxford,  1906-1910,  iv,  258 
sq.;  idem,  Greece  and  Babylon, 
London,  1911,  p.  295;  O.  Gruppe, 
Griechische  Mythologie  und  Reli- 
gionsgesc hie hte,  Munich,  1906,  ii, 
939  sqq.;  M.  P.  Nilsson,  "Die 
alteste  griechische  Zeitrechnung, 
Apollo  und  der  Orient,"  Archiv 
fur  Religionswissenschaft,  I9ii,xiv, 
442  sqq. 

1  See  the  exhaustive  collection  of 
the  evidence,  both  literary  and  in- 
scriptional,  in  Roscher,  "Fristen 
und  Wochen,"  pp.  41-68;  idem, 
"  Sieben-  und  Neunzahl,"  pp.  4-53  ; 
idem,  "Hebdomadenlehren,"  pp.  7- 
23.  Some  students  have  seen  in 
this  sanctity  of  seven  the  results  of 


early  intercourse  with  the  Orient 
through  Phoenician  channels  (V. 
Berard,  in  Revue  de  Fhistoire  des 
religions,  1899,  xxxix,  426  sq.; 
compare  A.  Thumb,  "Die  Namen 
der  Wochentage  im  Griechischen," 
Zeitschrift  fur  deutsche  Wortfor- 
schung,  1901,  i,  163  sq.).  The 
theory  of  the  diffusion  of  the  cult 
of  seven  from  the  East  might  now 
be  strengthened  by  substituting 
Cretan  for  Phoenician  inter- 
mediaries. Nilsson  argues  that 
the  seven-cult,  together  with  the 
worship  of  Apollo,  reached  Greece 
by  way  of  Asia  Minor,  "eine 
Etappe  auf  dem  Wege  nach  Baby- 
lonien"  (Archiv  fur  Religionswissen- 
schaft, 1911,  xiv,  447  sq.}. 

2  J.  Hehn,  Siebenzahl  und  Sabbat 
bei  den  Babyloniern  und  im  Alien  Tes- 
tament, Leipzig,  1907,  pp.  4-44;  P. 
Jensen,  Die  Kosmologie  der  Babylo- 
nier,  Strassburg,  1890,  pp.  170-184. 

3  The    predominance    of    seven 
among  the  Hebrews,  if  not  wholly 
explained  by  borrowing  from  Baby- 
lonia, may  reasonably  be  assumed 
to  have  been  much  influenced  by 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     213 


Some  Assyriologists  have  connected  the  symbolism 
of  seven  with  the  seven  stars  visible  to  the  naked  eye 
which  traverse  the  celestial  zodiac.  For  the  Baby- 
lonian astrologers  and  astronomers  these  were  the  sun, 
the  moon,  and  the  five  larger  planets,  Mercury,  Venus, 
Mars,  Jupiter,  and  Saturn.  There  can  be  no  question 
that  the  separation  of  the  planets  from  the  fixed  stars, 
one  of  the  enduring  contributions  which  Babylonia 
has  made  to  civilization,  was  the  outcome  of  super- 
stitious notions  concerning  the  influence  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  on  the  life  of  man.  The  Babylonian  astrologers 
who  watched  night  by  night  the  stately  procession  of 
the  stars  across  the  cloudless  skies  were  animated  by 
no  high  zeal  for  scientific  knowledge,  but  rather  by 
the  necessity  of  drawing  from  the  celestial  phenomena 
omens  of  good  or  ill  for  king  and  country.  Jupiter 
and  Venus  were  probably  the  first  planets  to  be  dif- 
ferentiated, the  one  because  of  his  brilliant  light,  the 
other  because  of  her  two  appearances  when  she  pre- 
cedes the  rising,  and  follows  the  setting,  sun.  Saturn, 
Mercury,  and  Mars  seem  originally  to  have  been  com- 
bined under  the  one  designation  Lu-Bat,  a  term  which 
came  to  bear  the  general  meaning  of  "  planet "  -  doubt- 
less on  account  of  the  difficulty  involved  in  observing 
their  separate  courses.1  We  do  not  know  when  all 
five  planets  were  set  off  from  the  fixed  stars,  or  when 
they  were  first  connected  with  the  sun  and  moon  to 
form  a  group  of  seven  planetary  luminaries.  As  an 
eminent  Italian  astronomer  has  remarked,  both  achieve- 
ments must  have  required  centuries  of  close  and  accu- 
rate observations  ;  they  do  not  belong  to  a  primitive 
astronomy.2  Hence  we  may  safely  conclude  that  the 

Babylonian    conceptions.     On    the  l  M.   Jastrow,   Aspects   of  Reli- 

Hebrew   cult   of  this    number   see  gious  Belief  and  Practice  in  Baby- 

Hehn,  Siebenzahl  und  Sabbat,  pp.  Ionia  and  Assyria,  New  York,  1911, 

77-90;    O.    Zockler,    "Siebenzahl,  pp.   217   sqq.;    idem,  Die  Religion 

heilige,"     in     Herzog,     Plitt,     and  Babyloniens  und  Assyriens,  Giessen, 

Hauck's   Realencyklopddie  fur  pro-  1905-1912,  ii,  446  sq.,  663  sqq. 

testantische    Theologie  und  Kirche,3  2  G.   Schiaparelli,  Astronomy  in 

xviii,  310-317.  the   Old    Testament,   Oxford,    1905, 


214  REST  DAYS 

symbolism  of  seven,  reaching  into  remote  Babylonian 
antiquity,  long  preceded  the  recognition  of  the  seven 
planets ;  nay,  more,  that  the  symbolic  significance  of 
this  number  imposed  itself  on  Babylonian  astronomers 
and  astrologers  and  compelled  them  to  include  in  it 
all  the  principal  stars. 

The  differentiation  of  the  planets  led  naturally  to 
their  identification  with  the  greater  deities  of  the 
Babylonian  pantheon,  whose  several  names  —  Nabu, 
Ishtar,  Nergal,  Marduk,  and  Ninib  —  have  come  down 
to  us  through  the  Greeks  and  Romans  in  their  classical 
equivalents,  Mercury,  Venus,  Mars,  Jupiter,  and  Sat- 
urn. It  is  by  no  means  certain,  however,  that  at 
all  periods  of  Babylonian  history  these  were  the  only 
deities  which  enjoyed  planetary  affiliations,  or  that 
the  same  gods  were  invariably  connected  with  the 
same  planets.  The  association  of  planet  and  god  seems 
to  have  been  quite  artificial  and  arbitrary ;  at  any 
rate,  the  omen  texts  do  not  show  any  close  correspond- 
ence between  the  character  of  the  deity  and  the  prog- 
nostications drawn  from  the  behaviour  of  his  planet. 
Furthermore,  the  cuneiform  records  contain  no  indi- 
cation that  the  Babylonians  were  familiar  with  what  is 
known  as  the  astrological  order  of  the  planets,  the  order, 

pp.  134  sq.     The  fact  that  by  the  der     griechischen     und     romischen 

Babylonians  Venus,  as  a  morning  Mythologie,  iii,  col.  2521).     Similar 

star,  was  considered  masculine  and  misconceptions    are    found    among 

as  an  evening  star,  feminine  (F.  X.  primitive   peoples.     Of  the  Maori 

Kugler,  Sternkunde  und  Sterndienst  it  has  been  said:  "Tawera  is  their 

in     Babel,     Miinster-i.-W.,     1907-  Lucifer   and   Merimeri   their  Hes- 

1910,  ii,   19  sq.}  must  point  back  perus,  and  under  these  two  names 

to  a  time  when  the  different  ap-  the  beauty  of  the  planet  Venus  is 

pearances  of  that  heavenly  body  at  frequently      celebrated      in      their 

morning  and  evening  were  regarded  poetry"  (E.  Shortland,   Traditions 

as  those  of  different  planets.     Such  and  Superstitions  of  the  New  Z,ea- 

was  also  the  opinion  of  the  early  landers?  p.  219).     Additional   evi- 

Greeks,    who    held    the    morning  dence  is  found  among  the  abori- 

star,  'Eo>cr<£6pos,  and  ""Eo-Trepos,  the  gines  of  Sumatra  (Marsden,  op.  cit.y 

evening  star,  to  be  different  bodies.  p.  194),  the  Hottentots  (Schultze, 

Their  identity  was  not  recognized  op.  cit.,  p.  367),  and  the  Cherokee 

until  the  time  of  Pythagoras  in  the  Indians  (Hagar,  in  Boas  Anniver- 

sixth  century  B.C.  (W.  H.  Roscher,  sary  Volume  >  p.  357). 
"Planeten,"  Ausfiihrliches  Lexikon 


• 

•*•  V»  n  •*-       in 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     215 

that  is,  in  which  they  appear  as  regents  of  the  week- 
days in  the  so-called  planetary  week  of  seven  days. 
The  oldest  known  list  of  the  Babylonian  planets  dates 
from  about  700  B.C.,  and  presents  the  following  arrange- 
ment :  Moon,  Sun,  Jupiter,  Venus,  Saturn,  Mercury, 
Mars.  The  same  order  is  found  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  later,  in  astronomical  texts  belonging  to 
the  time  of  the  New  Babylonian  Empire.1  This 
seems  to  be  nothing  more  than  the  sequence  according 
to  which  the  planets  were  severally  differentiated  from 
the  fixed  stars.  At  all  events  it  is  not  the  astrological 
sequence,  which  lies  at  the  basis  of  the  planetary  week. 
Nor  can  the  origin  of  the  names  of  the  weekdays  be 
sought  in  Babylonia.  It  is  true  that  the  Babylonians, 
like  the  Egyptians,2  ascribed  to  every  day  in  the  month 
its  appropriate  divinity,  but  absolutely  no  evidence  exists 
that  they  ever  applied  the  names  of  the  seven  planetary 
deities  to  the  days  of  a  septenary  cycle.  That  step  was 
taken  at  another  time  and  by  another  people. 

The  planetary  week,3  an  institution  which  has  spread 


1  Kugler,  op.  cit.,  i,  13  ;  compare 
F.  Boll,  "  Zur  babylonischen  Plane- 
tenordnung,"  Zeitschrift  fur  Assyri- 
ologie,  1911,  xxv,  3  73 .    Between  400 
B.C.  and  the  opening  of  the  Chris- 
tian   era   the   order    is   the   same, 
except    that   Mercury   and   Saturn 
exchange  places. 

2  Herodotus,  ii,  82. 

3  The  history  of  the  planetary 
week  has  been  treated  with  exhaus- 
tive learning  by  E.  Schiirer,  "Die 
siebentagige  Woche  im  Gebrauche 
der    christlichen     Kirche    der    er- 
sten  Jahrhunderte,"  Zeitschrift  fur 
die  neutestamentliche    Wissenschaft, 
1905,   vi,   1-66.     A  very  valuable 
survey  is  that  by  F.   Boll,  "Heb- 
domas,"  in  Pauly-Wissowa's  Real- 
Encyclopddie  der  classischen  Alter- 
tumswissenschaft,    vii,    coll.    2547- 
2578.     Among   the   earlier   discus- 
sions those  by  J.  C.  H(are),  "On 
the    Names    of  the    Days    of  the 


Week,"  Philological  Museum, 
1832,  i,  1-73,  and  E.  Schrader, 
"Der  babylonische  Ursprung  der 
siebentagigen  Woche,"  Theologische 
Studien  und  Kritiken,  1874,  xlvii, 
343-353,  hold  an  honourable  place. 
See  further  W.  H.  Roscher,  "Plane- 
ten,"  Ausfuhrliches  Lexikon  der 
griechischen  und  romischen  My- 
thologiey  iii,  coll.  2518-2539; 
A.  Bouche-Leclercq,  L' astrologie 
grecquey  Paris,  1899,  pp.  476-484; 
Jensen,  Noldeke,  et  al.,  "Ge- 
schichte  der  Namen  der  Wochen- 
tage,"  Zeitschrift  fur  deutsche  Wort- 
forschungy  1901,  i,  150-193;  O. 
Schrader,  "Woche,"  Reallexikon 
der  indogermanischen  Altertums- 
kundey  Strassburg,  1901,  pp.  959- 
965;  W.  Lotz,  "Woche,"  in  Her- 
zog,  Plitt,  and  Hauck's  Realency- 
klopddie fur  protestantische  Theologie 
und  Kirche?  xxi,  409-414;  F. 
Riihl,  Chronologic  des  Mittelalters 


216  REST  DAYS 

eastward  over  the  Oriental  world  and  westward  into 
Europe,  is  a  product  of  the  speculations  of  astrologers 
and  philosophers  during  the  Hellenistic,  or  Grseco- 
Oriental,  era.  The  sequence  of  its  days  depends  ulti- 
mately upon  the  order  of  the  seven  planetary  spheres, 
adopted  by  Ptolemy  in  antiquity  and  after  him  by 
astronomers  until  the  discoveries  of  Copernicus.  If 
the  planets  are  grouped  according  to  their  distance 
from  the  earth,  beginning  with  the  highest  and  descend- 
ing to  the  lowest,  we  obtain  the  following  order :  Sat- 
urn, Jupiter,  Mars,  Sun,  Venus,  Mercury,  Moon. 
No  certain  evidence  exists  that  this  arrangement  was 
known  at  an  earlier  date  than  the  second  century 
before  our  era.1  The  astrological  order,  which  also 
begins  with  Saturn,  proceeds  next  to  the  fourth  planet, 
or  Sun,  from  which  again  the  fourth  planet  (by  inclu- 
sive reckoning)  is  the  Moon.  By  continuing  to  select 
every  fourth  planet  thereafter  we  obtain  at  length  the 
regents  of  the  seven  weekdays  :  Saturn,  Sun,  Moon, 
Mars,  Mercury,  Jupiter,  Venus. 

How,  it  may  be  asked,  did  such  an  arrangement 
arise  ?  This  question  has  been  answered  for  us  by  the 
Roman  historian,  Dio  Cassius,  who  interrupts  his 
narrative  of  the  victorious  campaign  of  Pompey  the 
Great  in  Palestine  to  furnish  a  brief  account  of  the 
planetary  week.2  The  institution,  says  Dio  Cassius, 

und    der    Neuzeit,  ^  Berlin,     1897,  *  The   reverse   order,   beginning 

pp.  49-63  ;  F.  K.  Ginzel,  Handbuch  with   the  Moon   and    ending   with 

der  mathematischen  und  technischen  Saturn,  is  attributed  to  Pythagoras 

Chronologie^     Leipzig,     1906-1911,  by     Pliny     the     Elder     (Historia 

index,  j.v.    "Woche."     The   word  naturalis,  ii,  22)  and  by  Censorinus 

"week"  in  various  Germanic  Ian-  (De  die  natali,  xiii,  3) ;   and  accord- 

guages  has  the  general  meaning  of  ing  to  Macrobius  it  was  adopted 

"change"  (Anglo-Saxon  wice,  Old  by  Archimedes   in   the  third   cen- 

Frisian     wike.     Old     Norse     vika,  tury   B.C.   (Commentarium  in  som- 

Danish    uge,    Old    High    German  nium  Scipionis,  i,  19,  2,  ii,  3,  13). 

wecha^  Gothic  wiko,  etc.).     See  F.  But  the  statements  of  these  late 

L.  K.  Weigand,  Deutsches  Worter-  writers    on    the    subject    may    be 

buck,*  Giessen,  1910,  ii,  1279.     The  safely  disregarded. 
Latin  vicis,   "change,"   "turn"  (a  2  Historia  Romana,  xxxvii,  18  sq. 

genitive  form)  is  a  related  expres-  There  is  also  extant  a  still  earlier 

sion.     See  Walde,  op.  cit.,  p.  833.  explanation    of  the   planetary    se- 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK 


217 


n  be  explained  in  two  ways.  According  to  the  first 
explanation  the  gods  are  supposed  to  preside  over 
separate  days  of  the  week,  following  the  "'  principle  of 
the  tetrachord'  (which  is  believed  to  constitute  the 
basis  of  music)."  1  The  planetary  week  would  thus 
be  one  expression  of  the  occult  relations  supposed  to 
exist  between  harmonic  intervals  of  music  and  the 
seven  planetary  spheres.  Though  the  idea  that  the 
motions  of  the  planets  were  regulated  by  the  laws  of 
musical  harmony  had  great  popularity  among  some  of 
the  Greek  schools  of  philosophy,  neo-Pythagorean 
and  neo-Platonist,  it  is  not,  however,  to  this  compara- 
tively refined  doctrine  of  the  "music  of  the  spheres" 
that  we  must  look  for  the  origin  of  the  planetary  se- 
quence.2 The  second  explanation  given  by  Dio  Cas- 
sius,  and  also  by  Vettius  Valens,  is  connected  with  the 
astrological  theory  of  "chronocratories,"  which  as- 
signed to  the  several  planets  dominion  over  hours  and 
days  as  periods  of  time.  If  the  day  is  divided  into 
twenty-four  hours  and  each  hour  is  ascribed  in  turn 


quence  by  Vettius  Valens,  an  astrol- 
oger of  the  age  of  the  Antonines. 
The  one  provided  by  Plutarch,  in 
the  seventh  chapter  of  the  fourth 
book  of  his  Symposiacs,  has  been 
lost.  Dio  Cassius  attributes  the 
origin  of  the  planetary  week  to  the 
Egyptians;  Lydus,  a  Byzantine 
antiquarian  of  the  fifth  century 
A.D.,  hesitates  between  the  Egyp- 
tians and  the  Babylonians  (De 
mensibusy  ii,  31). 

1  This  arrangement  —  &a  reo-o-a- 
peoi/  —  may  be  illustrated  by  means 
of  the  heptagram.  Let  the  circum- 
ference of  a  circle  be  divided  into 
seven  equal  arcs  and  the  signs 
of  the  planets  —  Saturn,  Jupiter, 
Mars,  Sun,  Venus,  Mercury,  Moon 
• —  be  placed  at  the  points  of  divi- 
sion. If  these  points  are  con- 
nected by  a  series  of  continuous 
chords,  then,  beginning  with  Saturn, 
the  lines  of  the  chords  will  lead 


successively  to  the  signs  of  the 
planets  in  the  astrological  order. 
The  figure  of  a  seven-branched 
star,  inscribed  in  a  circle,  is  an 
ancient  device;  indeed,  the  hepta- 
gram appears  on  a  clay  tablet 
recently  unearthed  at  Nippur  in 
Babylonia  (H.  V.  Hiiprecht,  Ex- 
plorations in  Bible  Lands,  Phila- 
delphia, 1903,  p.  530),  but  in  this 
case  quite  without  any  indication 
of  its  use. 

2  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  gamut, 
or  scale  of  seven  notes  comprised 
within  the  interval  of  an  octave, 
rests  on  no  fundamental  laws  of 
acoustic  phenomena  but  is  itself 
a  product  of  the  all-pervading 
symbolism  of  seven.  This  system 
of  musical  numeration  has  spread 
from  Greece  as  far  east  as  India 
and  China.  See  J.  Combarieu, 
La  musique  et  la  magie,  Paris, 
1909,  pp.  176-200. 


218  REST  DAYS 

to  the  several  planets  —  Saturn,  Jupiter,  Mars,  Sun, 
Venus,  Mercury,  Moon  —  then  Saturn  will  preside 
over  the  first,  eighth,  fifteenth,  and  twenty-second  hours 
of  the  first  day,  the  twenty-third  hour  will  fall  to 
Jupiter,  and  the  twenty-fourth  'to  Mars.  The  twenty- 
fifth  hour,  or  the  first  hour  of  the  second  day,  will 
belong  to  the  Sun,  the  first  hour  of  the  third  day  to  the 
Moon,  and  so  on  for  the  remaining  weekdays.  The 
planetary  deity  found  to  preside  over  the  first  hour  of 
a  day  is  then  supposed  to  give  his  name  to  the  entire 
day.  This  scheme,  as  far  as  it  depends  on  the  recogni- 
tion of  twenty-four  hours,  is  evidently  not  of  Greek 
origin,  for  the  mathematical  division  of  the  day  into 
fixed  parts  did  not  arise  in  the  Occident,  but  was  due 
to  Oriental  influences.1 

The  planetary  week  thus  presents  itself  as  a  curious 
amalgam  of  ideas  derived  from  different  sources. 
Babylonia,  the  motherland  of  divination,  provided 
the  doctrine  of  the  influence  of  the  stars  on  human 
destinies ;  Greece  furnished  the  mathematical  astron- 
omy which  grouped  the  planets  according  to  their 
distance  from  the  earth ;  and  upon  these  foundations 
astrologers  of  the  Hellenistic  era,  familiar  with  the 
cult  of  seven  and  with  a  division  of  the  day  into  twenty- 
four  hours,  built  up  what  was,  at  the  outset,  an  entirely 
pagan  institution. 

The  seven-day  week  (e/jSo/jtas,  septimana),  in  its 
astrological  form,  has  had  a  varied  history.  It  prob- 
ably first  appeared  in  the  star  cults  of  Mesopotamia 

1  Herodotus    (ii,    109)    says   ex-  very    early    times    were    familiar 

Elicitly    that    the    Greeks    learned  with   a   division   into   twenty-four 

•om  the  Babylonians  to  divide  the  hours,   twelve   for   the   night   and 

day  into  twelve  parts.     This  state-  twelve  for  the  natural  day.     It  is 

ment    agrees    with    the    evidence  not  improbable,  therefore,  that  the 

from  the  cuneiform  records,  which  astrological  use  of  the  twenty-four 

show  that  it  was  the  Babylonian  hours  was   remotely  derived   from 

custom  to  divide  the  nycthemeron,  Egypt.     On  the  entire  subject  of 

or   cycle   of  night   and   day,   into  hour  deities  see  W.  Gundel,  "Stun- 

twelve     kaspu,     corresponding     to  dengotter,"    Hessische    Blatter  fur 

two  of  our  equinoctial  hours.     On  Folkskunde,    1913,   xii,    100-131. 
the  other  hand  the  Egyptians  from 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     219 

ind  Syria,  certainly  not  before  the  second  century 
B.C.,  passed  thence  to  the  cosmopolitan  city  of  Alex- 
andria, the  meeting-ground  of  East  and  West,  and 
about  the  age  of  Augustus  gained  an  entrance  into 
Occidental  lands.  The  first  reasonably  certain  evi- 
dence of  its  existence  in  Italy  is  found  in  the  so-called 
fasti  Sabini,  the  fragments  of  a  calendar  drawn  up 
between  the  years  19  B.C.— 4  A.D.  Here  the  days  of 
the  seven-day  week  (indicated  by  the  letters  A  to  F) 
and  those  of  the  old  Roman  nundinal  cycle  (indicated 
by  the  letters  A  to  G)  are  set  forth  in  parallel  columns 
for  the  months  of  September  and  October.  All  similar 
calendars  of  the  same  period  employ  only  the  lettering 
of  the  eight-day  Roman  week.1  The  earliest  evidence 
for  the  planetary  naming  of  the  weekdays  is  found 
in  two  inscriptions  from  Pompeii.  Of  these,  the  first 
gives  all  the  names  of  the  planetary  deities  in  their 
Greek  form;  the  second,  the  names  in  their  more 
familiar  Latin  form,  except  for  the  accidental  omission 
of  Wednesday :  Saturni,  Solis,  Lunse,  Martis,  Jovis, 
Veneris.2  Indications  that  the  planetary  week  was 
known  and  used  during  the  second  century  A.D.  occur 
in  both  classical  literature  and  the  inscriptions.  Dio 
Cassius,3  writing  early  in  the  third  century  (about 
210-220  A.D.),  declares  that  the  custom  of  referring 
the  days  to  the  stars,  called  planets,  had  then  become 
quite  familiar  to  the  Romans  as  well  as  to  the  rest  of 
mankind.  The  accuracy  of  this  statement  is  confirmed 
by  his  Christian  contemporaries,  Tertullian  and  Clem- 
ent of  Alexandria,  who  in  their  writings  addressed  to 
the  pagans  employ  the  planetary  names  of  the  week- 
days.4 

1  Corpus    inscriptionum    Latina-  accademia    dei    lincei,    anno    1901, 
rum,    i,    pt.    i,2  220;    G.  Gander-  Serie  v,  classe  di  science  morali,  etc., 
mann,  "Die  Namen  der  Wochen-  ix,  Notizie  degli  scavi,  p.  330. 
tage  bei  den  Romern,"  Zeitschriftfur  3  Historia  Romana,  xxxvii,  18. 
deutsche  Wortforschung,  1901,  i,  177.  4  Tertullian,     Apologeticus,     16; 

2  A.     Mau,    in    Bullettino    dell'  idem,  Ad  nationes,  i,  13;    Clement, 
instituto   di  corrispondenza   archeo-  Stromata,    vii,     12,    75;     compare 

i)  1 88 1,  p.  30;    Atti  della  reale      Justin  Martyr,  Apologia  prima,  67. 


220  REST  DAYS 

The  early  Christians  had  at  first  adopted  the  Jewish 
seven-day  week  with  its  numbered  weekdays,1  but  by 
the  close  of  the  third  century  A.D.  this  began  to  give 
way  to  the  planetary  week ;  and  in  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries  the  pagan  designations  became  generally 
accepted  in  the  western  half  of  Christendom.2  The 
use  of  the  planetary  names  by  Christians  attests  the 
growing  influence  of  astrological  speculations  intro- 
duced by  converts  from  paganism.  The  old  beliefs 
in  the  power  of  the  stars  over  human  destinies  lived 
on  in  Christian  communities ;  the  heavenly  bodies, 
though  no  longer  deities,  were  still  demons  capable  of 
affecting  the  fate  of  man.  During  these  same  centuries 
the  spread  of  Oriental  solar  worships,  especially  that 
of  Mithra,3  in  the  Roman  world,  had  already  led  to  the 
substitution  by  pagans  of  dies  Soils  for  dies  Saturni, 
as  the  first  day  of  the  planetary  week ;  and  Constan- 
tine's  famous  edict,  as  we  have  seen,  definitely  enrolled 
Sunday  among  the  holidays  of  the  Roman  state  reli- 
gion.4 The  change  from  Saturn's  Day  to  Sunday 
must  have  further  commended  the  planetary  week 
in  Christian  circles,  where  the  Lord's  Day  (dies  domi- 
nica),  beginning  the  week,  had  long  been  observed  as 
that  on  which  Christ,  the  "Sun  of  Righteousness," 

1  The  Jews  indicated  each  week-  Celsus,  as  quoted  by  Origen  (Contra 
day  by  its  numerical  name,  as  the  Celsum,  vi,  21),  the  seven  planets 
first  day,  the  second  day,  and  so  played   an   important   role   in   the 
on ;    compare  Exodus,  xvi,  5,  22 ;  Mithraic  mysteries.     The  chief  po- 
Matthew,  xxviii,  i;    Mark,  xvi,  2;  sition    was    naturally    assigned    to 
Luke,  xxiv,  i ;    John,  xx,  I ;    Acts,  the  sun,  from  which  circumstance 
xx,  7;    i  Corinthians,  xvi,  2.     The  Cumont  concludes,  not  only  that 
sixth  day,  preceding  the  Sabbath,  the  planetary  week  was  known  to 
came  eventually   to   be   called   by  Mithraism,     but     also     that     the 
Hellenistic    Jews    17  Trapao-Keur;,    or  dies    Solis    "etait    evidemment    le 
"preparation"    for    the    Sabbath;  plus  sacre  de  Thebdomade  pour  les 
compare  Matthew,  xxvii,  62 ;  Mark,  fideles   de  Mithra,   et,   comme   les 
xv,  42;  Luke,xxin,  54;  John,xix,  31.  Chretiens,    ils    devaient    sanctifier 

2  The  oldest  dated  Christian  in-  le  dimanche  et  non  pas  le  sabbat." 
scription    to    employ    a    planetary  See   F.   Cumont,    Textes  et  monu- 
designation  belongs  to  the  year  269  ments  figures  relatifs  aux  mysteres 
A.D.  (Inscriptiones  Christiana  urbis  de  Mithra,  Brussels,  1896-1899,  i, 
Roma,  ed.  De  Rossi,  i86i,i,  no.  n).  118  sq.,  ii,  31. 

3  According  to  the  testimony  of  4  Above,  pp.  122  sq. 


. 


LUNAR  CALENDARS  AND  THE  WEEK     221 


se  from  the  dead.1  Thus  gradually  a  pagan  insti- 
tution was  engrafted  on  Christianity. 

The  planetary  week  became  familiar  to  the  barbari- 
ans of  the  West  before  its  adoption  by  Christianity. 
Much  monumental  evidence  exists  to  show  that  in  Gaul 
and  Roman  Germany  the  planetary  order,  beginning 
with  Saturn,  was  known  from  the  first  half  of  the  third 
century.  The  same  cycle  appears  to  have  been  intro- 
duced into  Roman  Britain.  In  nearly  all  Romance 
countries  the  planetary  names  are  applied  to  the  week- 
days except  the  first  and  seventh,  for  which  the  ecclesi- 
astical designations,  dies  dominica  and  sabbatum,  are 
retained.2  In  most  Germanic  languages  Sunday  and 
Monday  appear  as  translations  of  the  Latin  forms ; 
Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday,  and  Friday  repre- 
sent equations  of  classical  and  Germanic  deities,  based 
on  the  most  obvious  points  of  resemblance  between 
them ; 3  while  Saturday,  for  which  no  corresponding 
Germanic  god  suggested  itself,  is  a  corrupt  form  of 

1  Below,  p.  268.  to  find  the  old  Roman  term  for  a 

2  Italian       domenica,      sabbato;  holy  day  thus  employed  to  refer 
Spanish  domingo,  sabado;    French  to  the  weekdays  that  are  particu- 
dimanchey    samedi,    etc.     But    the  larly  devoted  to  secular  occupations, 
heathen  names  of  even  these  two  The  origin  of  the  practice  has  not 
days  continued  for  a  long  time  in  been  satisfactorily  explained, 
popular  use,  as  is  evident  from  the  3  Tiu    (Mars),   Woden    (Mercu- 
words  of  Gregory  of  Tours :    Ecce  rius),Thor  (Jupiter),  Frij a  (Venus). 
enim  dies  Solis  adest,  sic  enim  bar-  The  special  observance  of  Thurs- 
baries  vocitare  diem  dominicam  con-  day  as  a  holy  day  reflects  the  com- 
sueta  est  (Historia  Francorum,  iii,  manding  place  occupied  by  Thor 
15).     The  other  weekdays   (Mon-  in  Germanic  paganism.     His  wor- 
day  to  Friday)  in  the  calendar  of  ship  on  that  day  is  referred  to  in 
the    Roman     Church    follow    the  documents    of   the    early    Middle 
Jewish  usage  in  being  numbered,  Ages  as  a  superstition  to  be  eradi- 
not    named :    feria   secunda,  feria  cated    (nullus   diem   Jovis   in   otio 
tertia,   feria    quarto,   feria    quinta,  observet,     etc.),     but    the     modern 
and  feria  sexta  (Isidore  of  Seville,  Esthonians    still    consider    Thurs- 
Etymologia    sive    origines,    v,   30).  day  as  holier  than  Sunday  and  in 
In   Portugal   the   influence  of  the  Sweden,  as  late  as  the  nineteenth 
Church  was  strong  enough  to  secure  century,    the    day    was    generally 
the  general  adoption  of  this  mode  considered  sacred.     See  J.  Grimm, 
of  reckoning,  instead  of  the  planet-  Teutonic  Mythology,  London,  1882, 
ary   sequence;    and   here  Monday  i,  191;    O.  Montelius,  "The  Sun- 
is  still  called  feira  segunda,  Tues-  god's  Axe  and  Thor's   Hammer," 
day,  feira  ter$a,  etc.     It  is  curious  Folk-lore,  1910,  xxi,  77. 


222 


REST  DAYS 


Saturnus.1  Among  the  Slavic  peoples,  whose  week 
begins  with  Monday,  as  the  first  day  after  rest,  the 
planetary  names  are  unknown,  the  days  being  num- 
bered in  conformity  with  the  usage  of  the  Greek 
Church.2  A  similar  custom  prevails  among  the  Lithu- 
anians and  Esthonians,  who  appear  to  have  borrowed 
their  week  from  the  Slavs.  Modern  Greeks  employ 
the  ecclesiastical  designations  of  the  weekdays,3  but 
the  Finns  and  Lapps,  at  the  other  extremity  of  Europe, 
in  adopting  the  week  from  the  Scandinavians,  took  over 
also  the  planetary  names  of  the  days.4 


1  The    Scandinavian    name    for 
Saturday,  "bath-day"  or  "wash- 
day "  (Old  Norse  laugardagr),  arose 
from  the  custom  of  taking  a  bath 
at   the   end   of  the  week   (De   la 
Saussaye,  The  Religion  of  the  Teu- 
tons, Boston,  1902,  p.  379;  P.  B.  Du 
Chaillu,  The  Land  of  the  Midnight 
Sun,  New  York,  1881,  ii,  205  sqq.). 

2  In  Slavic  antiquity  Friday,  or 
some    day     corresponding    to    it, 
appears  to  have  been  consecrated 
to  a  female  divinity,  whose  person- 
ality,   after    the    introduction    of 
Christianity,  became  merged  into 
that  of  St.  Prascovia.     "As  she  is 
supposed    to    wander    about    the 
houses  of  the  peasants  on  her  holy 
day,  and  to  be  offended  if  she  finds 
certain   kinds   of  work   going   on, 
they  are  (or  at  least  they  used  to 
be)   frequently  suspended  on   Fri- 
days.    It   is   a   sin,   says   a   time- 
honoured  tradition,  for  a  woman 
to  sew  or  spin,  or  weave,  or  buck 
linen  on   a   Friday,   and  similarly 
for  a  man  to  plait  bast  shoes,  twine 
cords,  and  the  like.     Spinning  and 
weaving   are   especially   obnoxious 
to  'Mother  Friday,'  for  the  dust 
and  refuse  thus  produced  injure  her 
eyes."     The  peasants  believe  that 
any  work  begun  on  Friday  is  sure  to 
go  wrong  (W.  R.  S.  Ralston,  Russian 


Folktales,  London,  1873,  pp.  198  sq.}. 

3  In    Thessaly    and    Macedonia 

Saturday  (<Ta.fipa.Tov)  is  considered 

inauspicious     for     beginning     any 


undertaking.  This  taboo  on  the 
day  has  been  considered  as  perhaps 
a  reminiscence  of  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath (Sir  Rennell  Rodd,  The  Cus- 
toms and  Lore  of  Modern  Greece, 
London,  1892,  p.  159).  According 
to  Mr.  G.  F.  Abbott,  the  Mace- 
donians believe  it  unlucky  to  finish 
any  work  on  a  Saturday;  the  end 
of  the  week  being  associated  in 
some  way  with  the  end  of  the 
owner's  life.  "People  born  on  a 
Saturday  (hence  called  ^a.ftftaria.voi 
or  Sabbatarians)  are  believed  to 
enjoy  the  doubtful  privilege  of 
seeing  ghosts  and  phantasms,  and 
of  possessing  great  influence  over 
vampires"  (Macedonian  Folklore, 
Cambridge,  1903,  pp.  191,  221). 

4  On  the  week  among  European 
peoples  see  further  E.  Maass, 
Die  Tagesgotter  im  Rom  und  den 
Provinzen,  Berlin,  1902 ;  A.  Thumb, 
"Die  albanesischen  Wochentage," 
Zeitschrift  fur  deutsche  Wortfor- 
schung,  1901,  i,  173-175;  R- 
Thurneysen,  "Die  Namen  der 
Wochentagen  in  den  keltischen 
Dialecten,"  ibid.,  pp.  186-191; 
W.  Meyer-Liibke,  "Die  Namen  der 
Wochentage  im  Romanischen," 
ibid.,  pp.  192  sq.;  C.  L.  Rochholz, 
Deutscher  Glaube  und  Branch,  Ber- 
Ijn,  1867,  ii,  9-63;  K.  A.  Oberle, 
Uberreste  germanischen  Heidentums 
im  Christentum,  Baden-Baden,  1883, 
pp.  13-40;  Grimm,  op.  cit.,  \, 
122-130. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  BABYLONIAN  "EVIL  DAYS "  AND  THE  SHABATTUM 

IT  is  time  to  return  to  Babylonia.  We  have  seen 
that  here  the  cult  of  seven  as  a  symbolic  number 
was  long  anterior  to  the  recognition  of  the  seven  plan- 
ets ;  and,  furthermore,  that  the  planetary  week, 
instead  of  being  an  early  creation  of  Babylonian  astrol- 
ogy, arose  during  the  Hellenistic  Age  from  the  union 
of  Greek  and  Oriental  speculations.  But  for  many 
centuries  previously  a  seven-day  week,  in  which  the 
days  were  numbered,  not  named,  had  existed  as  a 
Jewish  institution  in  western  Asia ;  and  we  have  still 
to  determine  whether  this  Jewish  form  of  the  week  was 
derived  remotely  from  Babylonia,  and  according  to 
what  conceptions  the  assumed  Babylonian  original 
was  itself  developed. 

In  the  year  1869  the  late  George  Smith,  well  known 
as  a  pioneer  student  of  Assyriology,  discovered  among 
the  cuneiform  tablets  in  the  British  Museum  "a  curi- 
ous religious  calendar  of  the  Assyrians,  in  which  every 
month  is  divided  into  four  weeks,  and  the  seventh 
days,  or  i  Sabbaths,'  are  marked  out  as  days  on  which 
no  work  should  be  undertaken."  1  Six  years  after- 
ward Sir  Henry  Rawlinson  published  this  calendar  in 
the  fourth  volume  of  his  standard  collection  of  cunei- 
form inscriptions.  It  appears  to  be  a  transcript  of  a 
much  more  ancient  Babylonian  original,  possibly 
belonging  to  the  age  of  Hammurabi,  which  had  been 
made  by  order  of  Asshurbanipal  and  placed  in  his 
royal  library  at  Nineveh.  The  calendar,  which  is 

1 G.  Smith,  Assyrian  Discov-  pare  idem,  The  Assyrian  Eponym 
fries,1  London,  1883,  p.  12;  com-  Canon,  London,  1875,  pp.  19  sq. 

223 


224  REST  DAYS 

complete  for  the  thirteenth  or  intercalary  month, 
called  Elul  II,  and  for  Markheshwan,  the  eighth  month 
of  the  Babylonian  year,  takes  up  the  thirty  days  in 
succession  and  indicates  the  deity  to  which  each  day 
is  sacred  and  what  sacrifices  or  precautionary  measures 
are  necessary  for  each  day.  All  the  days  are  styled 
"  favourable,"  an  expression  which  must  indicate  a 
pious  hope,  not  a  fact,  since  the  words  ud-khul-gal  or 
umu  limnu  ("the  evil  day")  are  particularly  applied 
to  the  seventh,  fourteenth,  nineteenth,  twenty-first, 
and  twenty-eighth  days.  The  second  Elul,  being  an 
intercalated  month,  might  be  thought  to  have  enjoyed 
a  special  significance,  as  intercalary  months  have 
had  elsewhere ;  *  but  such  a  hypothesis  will  not  ex- 
plain the  inclusion  of  the  month  of  Markheshwan  in 
the  calendar.2  Hence  it  is  highly  probable  that  at  one 
time  the  other  months  were  similarly  marked,  though 
as  yet  there  is  no  inscriptional  evidence  for  the  observ- 
ance of  the  five  "evil  days"  in  all  the  months  of  the 
Babylonian  year.3 

With  regard  to  the  reasons  which  dictated  the  choice 
of  the  seventh,  fourteenth,  twenty-first,  and  twenty- 
eighth  days,  two  views  have  been  entertained.  It  has 
been  held,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  "evil  days"  were 
selected  as  corresponding  to  the  moon's  successive 
changes ;  hence  that  the  seventh  day  marks  the  close 
of  the  earliest  form  of  the  seven-day  week,  a  week 
bound  up  with  the  lunar  phases.  According  to  an- 
other opinion  the  setting  apart  of  every  seventh  day 

1  Above,  p.  177  ft.2  been  solved  to  the  satisfaction  of 

2  The  first  edition  (1875)  of  the  most  Assyriologists  by  the  sugges- 
fourth  volume  of  Rawlinson's  Cu-  tion  that  the  nineteenth  day  was 
neiform  Inscriptions  of  Western  Asia  regarded  as  seven  times  the  seventh 
contained  only  a  calendar  for  the  day  (i.e.,  the  forty-ninth  from  the 
month  of  Elul  II,  but  in  the  second  first    of    the     preceding     month), 
edition  (1891)  of  this  volume  there  This,    of    course,    would    not    be 
was  added,  from  a  number  of  frag-  strictly  true,   when  the   preceding 
ments,   a   calendar  for  the  month  month  had  only  twenty-nine  days, 
of  Markheshwan.  but  it  seems  that  the  early  Baby- 

3  The  difficulty  which  arises  in  Ionian   month   was   conventionally 
respect  to  the  nineteenth  day  has  taken  at  thirty  days'   duration. 


THE   BABYLONIAN   "EVIL  DAYS"          225 


was  due  to  the  importance  ascribed  to  seven ;  hence 
that  the  seven-day  cycles  were  not  regarded  as  quarters 
of  the  lunation  but  rather  as  periods  containing  the 
symbolic  number  of  seven  days,  which  happened  to 
coincide,  roughly,  with  a  fourth  part  of  the  lunar 
month.  The  second  view  would  be  merely  an  ampli- 
fication of  the  first,  if  we  assume,  with  perhaps  the 
majority  of  Assyriologists,  that  the  role  of  seven  as  a 
symbolic  number  is  ultimately  connected  with  the 
moon  changing  her  phases  at  intervals  of  approxi- 
mately seven  days. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  in  the  present 
state  of  our  knowledge  we  cannot  obtain  any  satisfac- 
tory explanation  of  the  origin  of  a  symbolic  number. 
As  far  as  seven  is  concerned,  the  American  evidence, 
previously  referred  to,1  indicates  that  cosmical  specula- 
tions may  sometimes  account  for  its  significance ;  while 
in  the  Semitic  area,  again,  one  root  of  the  cult  of  seven 
may  lie  in  the  observation  of  the  Pleiades  and  the  early 
use  of  Pleiades  calendars  by  the  agriculturist.2  That 
the  Pleiades  number  seven  stars  has  been  noted  even 
by  savage  peoples,  who  have  also  observed  that  each 
one  of  three  other  prominent  constellations,  Ursa 
Major,  Ursa  Minor,  and  Orion,  contains  seven  prin- 
cipal stars.  Such  unexplained  coincidences  may  have 
served  to  confirm  the  impression  of  the  significance  of 
seven  in  the  minds  of  Babylonian  astrologers,  even 
though  the  mystic  quality  of  that  number  was  based 
originally  on  a  different  set  of  ideas.  But  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  discuss  further  what  popular  superstitions  and 
priestly  speculations  gave  rise  to  the  symbolism  of 
seven  in  ancient  Babylonia. 

1  Above,  pp.  210  sq.  fest   und  der  Plejadenkult,    Pader- 

2  Compare  H.  Zimmern,  in  E.  born,    1907),  who  discerns  in   the 
Schrader,   Die  Keilinschriften   und  duration  of  the  Hebrew  Pentecost, 
das  Alte   Testament?   Berlin,  1903,  or  Feast  of  Weeks,  as  well  as  in  the 
pp.  620  sq.     The  possible  influence  rites   which   marked   that   agricul- 
of  Pleiades  cults  has  been  worked  tural  festival,  the  predominance  of 
out   with   much   ingenuity   by   H.  a  septenary  division  based  on  the 
Grimme  (Das  israelitische  Pfingst-  observation  of  these  seven  stars. 

Q 


226  REST  DAYS 

The  month  in  Babylonia  was  a  lunar  month,  and  the 
year  was  a  lunisolar  year.  Unlike  the  Egyptians,  who 
passed  from  moon-  to  sun-reckonings  before  the  dawn 
of  history,  the  Babylonians  always  retained  the  primi- 
tive lunar  calendar,  harmonized  with  the  solar  year  by 
the  crude  method  of  intercalating  an  extra  month  at 
the  necessary  intervals.  As  in  all  lunar  calendars 
the  month  began  with  the  visible  new  moon.  So  im- 
portant was  this  for  the  determination  of  the  month 
that  arxu,  the  Babylonian  expression  for  " month," 
meant,  properly,  the  beginning  of  the  month;  while 
Nannar  (nannaru),  one  of  the  names  of  the  moon-god, 
was  originally  applied  to  the  new  moon.1  The  length 
of  the  month  was  reckoned  at  thirty  days  as  an  approxi- 
mate average  of  ,the  duration  of  the  moon's  course,  a 
calculation  familiar  enough  to  many  half-civilized 
peoples.2  The  ideogram  for  arxu  is  the  number 
"thirty"  enclosed  in  the  ideogram  for  "day"  ;  and  the 
ideogram  for  Sin,  the  moon-deity,  is  made  up  of  that 
for  "god"  and  of  that  for  "thirty,"  which  number  was 
sacred  to  him.  When  in  late  mythological  syncretism 
the  goddess  Ishtar  was  represented  as  the  daughter  of 
Sin,  her  sacred  number  became  fifteen,  and  this,  with 
the  determinative  of  goddess  prefixed  to  it,  was  often 
used  to  express  her  name.3 

Though  the  calendar  assigned  to  each  month  thirty 
full  days,  the  actual  month  must  have  often  included 
only  twenty-nine  days,  since  the  reckoning  employed 
was  purely  lunar.  We  may  assume,  in  the  absence  of 
definite  statements  as  to  the  way  of  fixing  the  length 
of  the  month,  that  the  Babylonians  at  first  followed  the 
rough-and-ready  method  of  modern  Arabs :  on  the 
twenty-ninth  of  the  month,  after  the  sun  has  gone 

1  W.  Muss-Arnolt,  "The  Names  z  Above,  p.  178. 

of  the  Assyro-Babylonian  Months  3  W.  Muss-Arnolt,  in  Journal  of 

and    their    Regents,"    Journal    of  Biblical  Literature,  1892,  xi,  72  sqq.9 

Biblical   Literature,    1892,   xi,    73;  82  j??.,  90;    E.  Meyer,  "Astarte," 

E.    Combe,    Histpire    du    culte    de  in  Roscher's  Ausfiihrliches  Lexikon 

Sin    en    Babylonie    et    en    Assyrie,  der     griechischen     und     romischen 

Paris,  1908,  pp.  8,  13.  Mythologie,  i,  col.  649. 


THE   BABYLONIAN   "EVIL  DAYS"          227 

down,  they  look  in  the  western  sky  for  the  faint  sickle 
of  the  moon ;  if  this  is  seen,  the  new  month  begins 
forthwith ;  if  it  cannot  be  seen,  the  following  day  is 
also  included  in  the  old  month,  which  then  contains 
thirty  days.  By  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century 
B.C.,  and  perhaps  at  an  even  earlier  date,  a  more  exact 
means  of  calculating  the  length  of  the  month  had  come 
into  use.  The  royal  astrologers,  who  sent  regular 
reports  to  the  king  as  to  the  appearance  or  non-appear- 
ance of  the  moon  at  the  expected  time,  appear  to  have 
carefully  observed  the  day  of  the  opposition  of  the  sun 
and  moon  in  the  middle  of  the  month ;  when  the  full- 
moon  day  was  known,  it  became  an  easy  matter  to 
determine  how  many  more  days  should  be  counted  to 
the  end  of  the  month.1  It  was  not  until  the  third  or 
second  century  B.C.,  when  exact  astronomical  methods 
had  supplanted  purely  empirical  study  of  the  heavens, 
that  the  Babylonians  were  able  to  calculate  the 
appearance  of  the  true  new  moon.  By  this  time, 
too,  the  progress  of  astronomical  knowledge  allowed 
them  to  adopt  the  more  accurate  calendarizing  of 
the  lunation  into  months  of  twenty-nine  and  thirty 
days,  five  of  the  former,  and  seven  of  the  latter, 
length.2 

These  details  concerning  the  Babylonian  calendar, 
in  all  but  its  latest  form,  are  enough  to  indicate  that  it 
presents  no  striking  divergence  from  the  general  type 
of  lunar  reckonings.  The  Babylonians,  like  all  other 
peoples  of  the  ancient  East,  based  their  calculations 
of  time  on  the  moon.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the 
seven-day  periods  described  in  the  Rawlinson  calendar 
were  also  reckoned  from  the  visible  new  moon  ;  indeed, 


1  R.  C.  Thompson,  The  Reports  Die     babylonische     Mondrechnung, 
of  the  Magicians  and  Astrologers  of  Freiburg-i.-B.,    1900,   pp.  49,  201 ; 
Nineveh     and     Babylon,     London,  F.  H.  Weissbach,  "Zum  babyloni- 
1900,  ii,  pp.  xviii  sqq.,  xxvi.  schen  Kalender,"  in  Assyriologische 

2  Epping  and  Strassmeier,  Astro-  und  archdologische  Studien  Hermann 
nomisches    aus  Babylon,   Freiburg-  v.  Hilprecht  gewidmet,  Leipzig,  1909, 
i.-B.,  1889,  p.  179;    F.  X.  Kugler,  p.  281. 


228  REST  DAYS 

this  fact  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  description  applied 
in  that  calendar  to  the  first  day  of  the  month.1  We 
may  reasonably  assume  that  the  last  day  of  the  month 
(when  the  latter  actually  included  only  twenty-nine 
days)  or  the  last  two  days  of  a  thirty-day  month  were 
regarded  as  forming  an  epagomenal  period,  interrupt- 
ing the  regular  succession  of  seven-day  cycles.  Possibly 
the  Babylonians  may  have  employed  some  such  device 
as  that  found  among  the  negroes  of  west  Africa,  in 
order  that  four  of  their  lunar  periods  should  correspond 
exactly  to  the  length  of  the  lunation.2 

We  may  next  inquire  whether  additional  evidence 
exists  to  indicate  that  the  seven-day  periods  of  the 
Rawlinson  calendar  were  definitely  associated  with 
successive  phases  of  the  moon.  It  has  already  been 
noticed  that  very  early  in  the  Assyro-Babylonian  cul- 
tural area  there  was  in  at  least  occasional  use  a  five- 
day  cycle,  called  khamushtu?  Whether  it  preceded 
the  hebdomadal  cycle  or  afterwards  supplanted  it 
(perhaps  as  forming  a  closer  divisor  of  the  lunation), 
or  whether  the  two  periods  may  not  have  existed 
more  or  less  contemporaneously,  are  matters  concern- 
ing which  the  cuneiform  records  tell  us  nothing.  They 
do  tell  us,  however,  that  a  five-day  period,  possibly 
to  be  identified  with  the  khamushtu,  was  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  successive  appearances  of  the  moon, 
as  in  a  text  where  the  first  five  days  of  the  month 
are  spoken  of  as  those  of  the  crescent  moon,  the  next 
five,  as  those  of  the  half-moon  ("kidney"),  and  the 
five  following  days  as  those  of  the  full  or  nearly  full 
moon.4  A  similar  association  with  the  moon's  course 
is  set  forth  in  the  case  of  a  seven-day  period  in  a  text 
which  specifically  indicates  the  seventh,  fourteenth, 
twenty-first,  and  twenty-eighth  days  as  those  of  Sin, 

1  Rawlinson,  op.  cit.,  iv,2  pi.  32,  4  Rawlinson,    op.    cit.,    iii,    55, 
col.  i,  11.  1-2;  W.  Lotz,  Qucestiones  no.  3,  11.  17-26;    P.  Jensen,  "Die 
de  historia  Sabbati,  Leipzig,   1883,  siebentagige     Woche     in     Babylon 
p.  39.  und      Nineveh,"      Zeitschrift     fur 

2  Above,  pp.  187  sq.  deutsche     Wortforschung,    1901,     i, 

3  Above,  p.  195.  150. 


THE  BABYLONIAN   "EVIL  DAYS"          229 

te  moon-god.1  Another  text  connects  several  days 
of  the  month  with  the  moon's  course  in  the  following 
order :  first  day,  new  moon ;  seventh  day,  moon  as 
"kidney"  (half-moon);  fifteenth  day,  full  moon.2 
Finally,  in  the  fifth  tablet  of  the  Babylonian  Epic  of 
Creation,  a  work  which  in  its  original  form  is  traced 
to  the  close  of  the  third  millennium  B.C.,  it  is  told  how 
the  god  Marduk,  having  created  and  set  in  order  the 
heavenly  bodies,  then  placed  the  moon  in  the  sky  to 
make  known  the  days  and  divide  the  month  with  her 
phases.  Although  this  interesting  production,  in  its 
present  mutilated  state,  mentions  only  the  seventh 
and  fourteenth  days,  we  are  entitled  to  believe  that  the 
original  text  also  referred  to  the  twenty-first  and 
twenty-eighth  days  of  the  month.3 

The  cuneiform  evidence  thus  makes  it  reasonably 
certain  that  the  cycles  of  seven  days'  duration  found 
in  the  Rawlinson  calendar  were  regarded  as  divisions 
of  the  lunar  month.  This  conclusion  does  not  require 
us  to  hold  that  these  cycles  originated  in  the  quarter- 
ing of  the  lunation.  Their  choice  may  conceivably 
have  been  dictated  in  the  first  instance  by  the  desire 
to  apply  the  prevailing  symbolism  of  seven  to  periods 

1  Rawlinson,  op,  cit.,  iii,  64, 18  b;      Every  month  without  ceasing  with 
Jensen,  in  Zeitschrift  fur  deutsche  the  crown  he  covered  (?)  him, 
Wortforschung,  1901,  i,  152;    Zim-  (saying): 

mern,  in  Schrader,  Keilinschriften?      'At  the  beginning  of  the  month, 
p.  621  n.6  when  thou   shinest  upon   the 

2  Cuneiform    Texts  from    Baby-  land, 

Ionian  Tablets  in  the  British  Museum,  Thou    commandest    the    horns    to 

pt.  xxv,  pi.  50  (K.  170);   F.  Horn-  determine  six  days 

mel,      "Calendar      (Babylonian),'*  And    on    the   seventh  day  to  [di- 

Hastings's  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  vide]  the  crown 

and  Ethics,  iii,  76.  On  the  fourteenth  day  thou  shalt 

*  Enumaelish,vy\l.  12-18  (transl.  stand      opposite,      the      half 

L.  W.  King,   The  Seven   Tablets  of  [.  .  .].'" 

Creation.  London,  1002,  i.  78,  81)  :        T. 

For  other  translations  see  r.  Jensen, 

"The  Moon-god  he  caused  to  shine  Die  Kosmologie  der  Babylonier, 

forth,  the  night  he  entrusted  Strassburg,  1890,  pp.  288  sqq.; 

to  him.  W.  Muss-Arnolt,  in  R.  F.  Harper, 

He  appointed  him,  a  being  of  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  Literature, 

night,  to  determine  the  days;  New  York,  1901,  p.  296. 


23o  REST  DAYS 

of  time ;  while  only  later,  and  as  a  secondary  develop- 
ment, were  they  brought  into  connection  with  the  phases 
of  the  moon.  In  either  case  the  seven-day  periods  can 
be  only  loosely  and  inaccurately  described  as  "weeks." 
Nothing  in  the  cuneiform  records  indicates  that  the 
Babylonians  ever  employed  them  for  civil  purposes. 
These  periods  seem  to  have  had  solely  a  religious  signif- 
icance, as  was  true  also  of  the  four  divisions  of  the 
month,  similarly  connected  with  the  lunar  phases, 
in  the  sacred  calendars  of  both  Buddhism  and  Zoroas- 
trianism.1  What  we  have  disclosed  in  Babylonia  is, 
not  the  week  itself,  but  the  material  out  of  which  such 
an  institution  might  be  formed. 

Each  septenary  period  in  the  calendar  for  Elul  II 
and  Markheshwan  closed  with  an  unnamed  "evil 
day."  The  symbolism  of  seven  cannot  in  itself  account 
for  the  unlucky  quality  attaching  to  this  seventh 
day.  Seven  to  the  Babylonians  bore  no  unlucky 
character.  It  stood,  rather,  for  the  notion  of  complete- 
ness or  totality,  appearing  in  prayers,  incantations, 
and  exorcisms  to  indicate  the  sum  total  of  the  gods  or 
spirits  recognized  by  the  worshipper ;  sometimes  mark- 
ing the  length  of  the  period  during  which  such  impor- 
tant actions  as  the  dedication  of  a  temple  or  the  mourn- 
ing for  a  death  must  be  performed ;  and  often,  again, 
assuming  a  mythological  role,  as  in  the  seven  gates  of 
the  underworld,  the  seven  names  of  the  goddess  Ishtar, 
and  the  periods  of  seven  days'  duration  found  in  the 
Babylonian  Deluge  narrative.2  In  these  and  many 
other  instances  seven  appears  as  a  symbolic,  but  not 
as  a  portentous,  number.  Assuming,  however,  that 
the  seven-day  periods  of  the  Rawlinson  calendar  were 
associated  with  successive  phases  of  the  moon  - 
whether  originally  or  secondarily  does  not  matter  - — 
it  is  clear  that  the  seventh  day,  marking  the  critical 
or  transition  point  in  each  phase,  would  possess  a 
special  importance.  In  fact,  the  negative  or  prohibi- 
tive regulations  enforced  among  the  Babylonians  on 

1  Above,  pp.  157,  165  sq.  *  Above,  p.  212. 


THE  BABYLONIAN  "EVIL  DAYS"          231 


the  "evil  days"  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  the  taboos 
which  many  other  peoples  have  observed  at  the  changes 
of  the  moon. 

Recent  students  of  Semitic  magic  have  shown  that 
the  Sumerians  and  their  successors,  the  Babylonians 
and  Assyrians,  were  familiar  with  the  idea  of  taboo ; 
the  term  mamit,  which  appears  frequently  in  magical 
texts,  is  exactly  equivalent  to  tabu,  since  it  refers  to 
that  state  of  ritual  impurity  or  ceremonial  uncleanness 
attending  certain  circumstances  or  actions.1  A  great 
part  of  the  so-called  Shurpu  series  2  deals  with  the 
methods  of  removing  the  condition  of  mamit  into  which 
a  man  may  have  wittingly  or  unwittingly  fallen.  The 
murderer,  the  adulterer,  or  the  thief  became  mamit 
in  consequence  of  his  breach  of  ordinary  social  morality, 
but  equally  cursed  was  the  unlucky  person  who  ran 
up  against  another  who  was  under  a  taboo,  slept  on  his 
bed,  ate  out  of  his  plate,  or  drank  from  his  cup.  A 
man  might  be  contaminated  by  putting  his  foot  in 
some  unclean  water,  by  treading  in  some  libation  that 
had  been  poured  forth,  by  touching  a  bewitched 
woman,  and  even  by  seeing  one  of  unwashen  hands. 
The  third  tablet  of  the  Shurpu  series  enumerates  no 
less  than  one  hundred  and  sixty-three  taboos,  including 
"those  which  come  from  the  family,  old  or  young, 
friend  or  neighbour,  rich  or  poor;  oven,  bellows,  pots 
and  cups,  bed  or  couch,  chariot  or  weapons.  To 
drink  out  of  an  unclean  vessel,  to  sit  in  the  sun,  to  root 
up  plants  in  the  desert,  to  cut  reeds  in  a  thicket,  to 
slay  the  young  of  beasts,  to  pray  with  unclean  hands, 
and  a  host  of  other  common  actions,  might  under 
certain  conditions  bring  a  tapu  on  the  man."  Such 
tabooed  acts  placed  the  man  under  an  interdiction ; 
if  he  fell  sick,  he  knew  that  his  sufferings  were  due  to 
the  hostility  of  some  supernatural  power;  and  a  pro- 
fessional exorcist  would  be  called  in  to  drive  away  by 
magical  words,  prayers,  and  rites  the  divine  curse 

1  C.  Fossey,  La  magie  assyrienne,  2  See  H.  Zimmern,  Die  Bcschwo* 

Paris,  1902,  pp.  52,  58.  rungstafeln  surpu,  Leipzig,  1896. 


232  REST  DAYS 

clinging  to  his  person.1  It  seems  to  be  clear,  then, 
that  the  taboos  observed  on  the  "evil  days"  repre- 
sented to  the  Babylonians  only  a  particular  applica- 
tion of  an  ancient  and  generally  accepted  superstition. 

The  calendar  for  Elul  II  contains  specific  directions 
for  the  observance  of  the  five  "evil  days,"  in  each  case 
the  same  except  for  differences  in  the  names  of  the  dei- 
ties.2 The  regulations  for  the  seventh  day  read  as 
follows  : 

"An  evil  day.  The  shepherd  of  great  peoples  shall 
not  eat  flesh  cooked  upon  the  coals,  or  bread  of  the 
oven.3  The  garment  of  his  body  he  shall  not  change, 
he  shall  not  put  on  clean  [garments].  He  shall  not 
bring  an  offering.  The  king  shall  not  ride  in  his  chariot. 
He  shall  not  speak  as -a  ruler  (?).  The  priest  shall 
not  give  a  decision  in  the  secret  place.  The  physician 
shall  not  lay  his  hand  on  a  patient.  To  issue  a  male- 
diction it  [the  day]  is  not  suitable.4  At  night  the  king 
shall  bring  his  gift  before  Marduk  and  Ishtar,  he  shall 
offer  a  sacrifice.  The  lifting  up  of  his  hands  will  then 
be  pleasing  to  god." 

It  is  clear  that  the  rules  for  the   seventh   day  pre- 

1  R.  C.  Thompson,  The  Devils  and  to  be  particularly  tabooed,  for  then 
Evil  Spirits  of  Babylonia,  London,  the  "shepherd  of  great  peoples"  is 
1904,  ii,  pp.  xxxix  sqq.  forbidden  to  eat  "anything  which 

2  H.  C.  Rawlinson,   The  Cunei-  the  fire  has  touched." 

form  Inscriptions  of  Western  Asia,  4  Most  Assyriologists  (Jeremias, 

London,  1891,  iv,2  pi.  32-33.     The  Delitzsch,  Lagrange,  Pinches,  Clay) 

complete  text  was  first  translated  make   this   sentence   read:     "The 

by  A.   H.   Sayce  ("A   Babylonian  day  is  unsuitable  for  any  business," 

Saints*   Calendar,"   Records  of  the  a  translation  which,  if  correct,  con- 

Pasty  London,  1876,  vii,  157-170)  verts  the  seventh  day  into  a  veri- 

and  shortly  thereafter  by  W.  Lotz  table  Sabbath.     To  this  translation 

(Quastiones    de    historia     Sabbati,  Professor  Morris  Jastrow  now  adds 

Leipzig,    1883,    pp.    39-49).     The  the  great  weight  of  his  authority, 

passage    relating    to    the    seventh  pointing   out   that  we   must   read 

day  has  been  many  times  rendered  ana  epasch  la  na-tu,  "'fur  Arbeit 

by  Assyriologists,  not  without  vari-  (oder  Ausfiihrung)    nicht   geignet' 

ations  in  the  result.     I  have  used  .   .   .   und    nicht,   wie   man    friiher 

the  version  in  the  scholarly  work  annahm,  epesch  arrati,  'zum   Flu- 

of  R.  W.  Rogers,  Cuneiform  Par-  chen,'    was    ja  ein   eigentiimliches 

allels  to   the   Old    Testament,   New  Verbot  ware"  (Die  Religion  Baby- 

York,  1912,  p.  189.  loniens    und    Assyriens,    Giessen, 

3  The  nineteenth  day  would  seem  1905-1912,  ii,  533  w.1). 


THE  BABYLONIAN   "EVIL  DAYS"          233 

>cribe  a  season  of  abstinence  affecting  many  royal  activ- 
ities. The  "shepherd  of  great  peoples"  must  not 
eat  any  food  which  has  been  cooked  with  fire ;  he 
must  not  change  his  clothes ;  and  he  must  not  offer 
a  sacrifice  until  the  end  of  the  day.  The  king  is  not 
to  speak  in  public ;  and  he  is  even  forbidden  to  travel. 
The  Babylonian  monarch  who  observed  all  these 
taboos  five  times  a  month  would  have  been  as  strictly 
secluded  as  was  the  Hawaiian  ruler,  who,  likewise, 
during  the  four  monthly  tabu  periods  retired  to  the 
inner  precincts  of  his  temple.1 

The  Babylonian  regulations  have  been  interpreted 
as  survivals  from  ancient  times,  when  priest-kings 
were  accredited  with  a  divine  or  supernatural  nature, 
and  hence  were  subjected  to  numberless  restrictions 
designed  to  prevent  any  impairment  of  their  sanctity 
and  magical  power.2  A  consideration  of  the  evidence 
yielded  by  primitive  societies  suggests,  however,  that 
the  Babylonian  regulations  may  have  been  connected 
originally  with  taboos  imposed  on  the  entire  community. 
In  Hawaii,  where  the  lunar  phases  were  observed  as 
tabu  periods,  the  prohibitions  affecting  the  king  repre- 
sented only  an  intensification  of  the  communal  taboos, 
to  be  explained  by  the  extreme  sanctity  attached  to 
the  Hawaiian  ruler.  In  Assam,  where  the  genna 
institution  enjoys  a  vigorous  life,  we  find  that,  besides 
the  prohibitions  communally  observed  at  critical  times, 
the  khullakpa,  or  priest-chief,  is  surrounded  by  many 
elaborate  taboos.  Their  purpose  is  "to  protect  the 
man  who  acts  on  behalf  of  the  whole  subdivision  or 
village  on  the  occasions  of  general  genna,  from  any 
accident  which  might  impair  his  power."  He  is  sub- 
ject to  various  food  restrictions,  must  content  himself 
with  only  one  wife,  and  must  even  separate  himself 
from  her  on  the  eve  of  a  general  genna.  In  one  group 

1  Above,  p.  15.  Sir  J.   G.    Frazer,    Taboo   and  the 

2  For  much  evidence  as  to  the  Perils  of  the  Soul,  London,   1911, 
sacredness  of  chiefs  and  kings  and  pp.    1-17;     idem,   Psyche's    Task,* 
as  to  the  accompanying  taboos,  see  London,  1913,  pp.  6-19. 


234  REST  DAYS 

the  headman  may  not  eat  in  a  strange  village,  nor, 
whatever  the  provocation,  may  he  utter  a  word  of 
abuse.  The  violation  of  any  one  of  these  taboos  is 
thought  to  bring  misfortune  on  the  entire  village.1 
It  is  not  wholly  speculative  to  suggest  that,  were  the 
natives  of  Assam  to  discard  their  communal  taboos  as 
burdensome,  the  special  regulations  affecting  the  khul- 
lakpa  might  survive,  in  deference  to  old  tradition,  and 
might  even  be  increased  in  severity,  if  that  individual 
should  grow  in  authority  and  holiness.  The  situa- 
tion would  then  furnish  a  very  close  analogy  to  what 
existed  in  ancient  Babylonia.  The  regulations  con- 
cerning the  "evil  days,"  it  may  be  noted,  did  not  per- 
tain to  the  king  alone.  We  may  reasonably  assume  that 
"the  shepherd  of  great  peoples  "  and  the  king  mentioned 
further  on  in  the  calendar  are  one  and  the  same ;  but 
the  record  also  describes  certain  rules  imposed  on  the 
priest  and  on  the  physician,  both  important  function- 
aries among  the  Babylonians.  It  seems  also  evident 
that  the  day  was  regarded  as  unsuitable  for  any  one  to 
lay  a  curse  or  ban ;  according  to  another,  and  possibly 
more  accurate,  rendering,  unsuitable  for  all  business. 
These  considerations  increase  the  probability  that  at 
one  time  some  taboos  on  the  seventh  day  were  observed 
by  the  entire  community.2 

It  is  questionable,  however,  whether  in  late  historic 
times  there  was  any  general  abstention  from  work  and 
other  activities  on  the  "evil  days."  The  Babylonians 
were  a  highly  organized  commercial  and  manufacturing 
people  who  would  have  found  such  regulations  bur- 
densome to  the  highest  degree.  Taboos  once  generally 

1 T.  C.   Hodson,  in  Journal  of  Siebenzahl    und     Sabbat     bei    den 

the  Anthropological  Institute,  1906,  Babyloniern   und  im   Alien    Testa- 

xxxvi,  98;  idem,  in  Folk-lore,  1910,  ment,  Leipzig,  1907,  pp.   106-109; 

xxi,    298;     idem,    Ndga    Tribes    of  J.  Meinhold,  Sabbat  und  Woche  im 

Manipur,  pp.  102,  141  sq.  Alten   Testament,  Gottingen,   1905, 

2  For  further  discussions  of  the  pp.  15  sqq.;    F.  Bohn,  Der  Sabbat 

"^evil  days"  see  M.  J.  Lagrange,  im     Alten     Testament,     Giitersloh, 

Etudes  sur  les  religions  semitiques?  1903,  pp.  39-43. 
Paris,  1905,  pp.  291  sqq.;  J.  Hehn, 


THE  BABYLONIAN  "EVIL  DAYS" 


235 


observed  may  have  been  gradually  relaxed  and  at  last 
abandoned,  just  as  modern  Jews  are  now  neglecting  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath.  The  practice  might  have 
been  kept  up,  however,  by  the  king  and  the  priests  as 
the  special  guardians  of  conservative  institutions.1 

The  cuneiform  records  contain  a  term  shabattum, 
which  has  been  generally  accepted  as  the  phonetic 
equivalent  of  the  Hebrew  shabbdthon,  perhaps  an  in- 
tensive form  of  shabbdth  or  Sabbath,  referring  to  a 
Sabbath  of  particular  solemnity.2  Shabattum,  a  word 


1  Some  painstaking  efforts  have 
been  made  to  discover  whether 
during  historic  times  there  was  any 
general  observance  in  Babylonia  of 
the  "evil  days."  W.  Lotz  (op. 
cit.,  p.  66),  from  an  examination  of 
540  dated  contract  tablets  belong- 
ing to  different  months,  found  that 
the  average  of  the  number  of  trans- 
actions on  the  yth,  I4th,  2ist,  and 
28th  days  was  18,  which  would  be 
also  the  average  for  each  day  of 
the  month.  The  I9th  day,  how- 
ever, had  only  one  contract  to  its 
credit.  Schiaparelli  (op.  cit.,  p.  132 
n.1)  examined  about  400  dated 
documents  from  the  archives  of 
the  Babylonian  business  firm,  Egibi 
and  Sons,  and  showed  that  there 
was  a  real  abstention  from  business 
only  on  the  I9th  day,  when  no 
contracts  were  concluded.  The 
same  investigator  (op.  cit.,  pp. 
175  sqq.)  also  classified  according 
to  the  day  of  the  month  2764  dates 
on  contract  tablets  belonging  to 
the  period  604-449  B-c-  and  found 
again  that,  while  the  transactions 
for  the  7th,  I4th,  and  2ist  days 
were  considerably  above  the  aver- 
age (94)  and  those  for  the  28th 
day  only  slightly  below  it,  the 
1 9th  day  registered  but  12  trans- 
actions. It  is  true  that  these 
statistics  deal  with  a  late  period 
of  Babylonian  history  and  include 
the  reigns  of  several  Persian  kings. 
By  this  time  the  general  observ- 


ance of  the  custom  may  have 
been  in  decay.  The  figures,  more- 
over, do  not  distinguish  the  sort 
of  business  done  on  the  "evil 
days."  Many  of  the  documents 
are  temple  records,  having  to  do 
with  offerings,  receipts  of  salaries 
by  priests,  etc.,  and  such  business 
may  not  have  been  regarded  as  a 
violation  of  the  prohibitions  in 
question  (C.  H.  W.  Johns,  "The 
Babylonian  Sabbath,  Expository 
Times,  1906,  xvii,  566  sq.}.  For 
Assyria,  during  the  period  720^-606 
B.C.,  365  dated  documents  indicate 
no  marked  cessation  of  business  on 
the  7th,  1 4th,  2ist,  and  28th  days. 
"They  were  not  kept  with  puritan 
respect  for  the  Sabbath,  if  Sabbaths 
they  really  were."  Only  2  con- 
tracts, however,  were  made  on  the 
1 9th,  and  for  one  of  these  the  date 
is  doubtful  (idem,  Assyrian  Deeds 
and  Documents,  London,  1901,  ii, 
40  sq.).  Finally,  out  of  356  dated 
documents  of  the  Hammurabi  era, 
only  2  were  dated  on  the  I9th  and 
only  26  on  the  four  other  "evil 
days"  (idem,  in  Expository  Times, 
1906,  xvii,  566 sq.).  It  would  seem, 
accordingly,  that  at  this  earlier 
period  (about  2000  B.C.)  there  was  a 
sabbatic  observance  of  all  five  days, 
and  especially  of  the  I9th  day. 

2  Shabbdthon  occurs  all  together 
ten  times  in  the  Old  Testament, 
where  it  is  applied  to  New  Year's 
Day,  the  Day  of  Atonement  (above, 


236  REST  DAYS 

which  has  been  found  as  yet  only  five  or  six  times  in 
Assyro-Babylonian  documents,  occurs  in  a  lexicographi- 
cal tablet  containing  the  equation  shabbattu(m)  = 
um  nukh  libbi.1  The  accepted  translation  of  the  latter 
expression  is  "day  of  rest  of  (or  for)  the  heart"  (s.c., 
"of  the  angered  gods").  Various  scholars  in  England 
and  Germany,  intent  on  discovering  Babylonian 
parallels  for  all  Hebrew  institutions,  have  therefore 
explained  shabattum  and  its  equivalent  phrase  by  the 
five  "evil  days"  found  in  the  calendar  already 
noticed.  This  identification  was  based  on  the  obser- 
vation that  these  seemed  also  to  be  penitential  days, 
when  by  special  observances  the  gods  must  be  ap- 
peased and  their  anger  averted.  The  Hebrew  Sab- 
bath would  therefore  represent  an  institution  directly 
derived  from  the  Babylonian  regulations  for  the  "evil 
days."  2 

Until  recently,  however,  Assyriology  has  sounded 
no  certain  note  concerning  the  etymology  and  signifi- 
cance of  the  term  shabattum.  Thus,  Delitzsch  holds 

pp.  82  sq.},  the  first  and  eighth  Boscawen;  see  A.  H,  Sayce,  in 
days  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  Academy,  1875,  viii,  555.  Ska- 
and  also  to  the  Sabbatical  Year  (Le-  battu(m)  here  and  elsewhere  can 
viticus,  xxv,  4)  and  to  the  Sabbath  be  read  shapattu(m),  without,  how- 
Day  proper  (Exodus,  xvi,  23,  xxxi,  ever,  affecting  the  sense  (P.  Jensen, 
15,  xxxv,  2 ;  Leviticus,  xxiii,  3).  Pro-  in  Zeitschrift  fur  Assyriologie,  1900, 
fessor  Morris  Jastrow  thinks  that  xiv,  182;  H.  Zimmern,  in  Schrader, 
shabbdthon  is  mistranslated  as  "sol-  Keilinschriften,3  p.  592  n.5). 
emn  rest"  and  that  in  fact  it  is  2  A.  H.  Sayce,  The  Higher  Criti- 
merely  an  adjectival  formation  cism  and  the  Verdict  of  the  Monu- 
meaning  "sabbatical"  or  "Sab-  ments,  London,  1895,  p.  74;  idem, 
bath-like."  The  word  "  belongs  The  Religions  of  Ancient  Egypt  and 
to  a  period  prior  to  the  develop-  Babylonia,  Edinburgh,  1902,  p.  476; 
ment  of  a  Sabbath  institution,  F.  Delitzsch,  Babel  and  Bible, 
celebrated  every  seventh  day  with-  London,  1903,  p.  41.  The  purely 
out  any  reference  to  the  phases  of  conjectural  character  of  this  pro- 
the  moon"  (American  Journal  of  cedure  was  long  ago  pointed  out 
Semitic  Languages  and  Literatures,  by  Francis  Brown  in  his  article, 
1914,  xxx,  97  n.1).  "The  Sabbath  in  the  Cuneiform 
1  Rawlinson,  op.  cit.,  ii,  pi.  32,  Records,"  Presbyterian  Review, 
no.  i,  1 6  a-b  (Cuneiform  Texts,  1882,  iii,  693.  Compare  also  A.  T. 
pt.  xviii,  pi.  23,  17  [K.  4397]).  Clay,  Amurru,  Philadelphia,  1909, 
The  discovery  of  this  important  pp.  55  sqq. 
equation  was  made  by  W.  H. 


THE   BABYLONIAN   "EVIL  DAYS"          237 

that  "the  only  meaning  that  may  be  justifiably  as- 
sumed is  "c ending  (of  work),  cessation,  keeping  holi- 
day from  work.' '  As  the  result  of  linguistic  analysis 
Hirschfeld  concludes,  on  the  contrary,  that  "the  idea 
of  resting  for  religious  reasons  after  a  certain  spell  of 
working  days  is  far  too  complicated  to  be  the  original 
meaning  of  a  primitive  root."  2  Jastrow,  again,  points 
out  that  um  nukh  libbi,  with  which  shabattum  has  been 
equated,  was  a  standing  expression  for  the  pacification 
of  a  deity's  anger.  It  occurs  frequently  in  Babylonian 
religious  literature,  where  it  is  more  particularly  used 
in  hymns  addressed  by  penitentials  to  some  god  who 
has  shown  his  ill-will  toward  them.  Shabattum  implies, 
therefore,  a  day  of  propitiation,  and  the  idea  of  rest 
involved  refers  to  gods  and  not  to  men  —  a  refrain- 
ing from  or  cessation  of  divine  anger.3  Zimmern  sug- 
gests that  shabattum  may  be  derived  from  the  verb 
shabatu,  with  the  sense  of  "discontinue"  or  "desist," 
applied  to  the  anger  of  the  gods.4  Pinches,  on  the 
contrary,  believes  that  the  word  comes  from  the  Sume- 
rian  shabat,  which  probably  had  no  connection  with 
the  Semitic  verb  shabatu.5  Nielsen  goes  still  further 
afield  for  a  satisfactory  explanation,  and  considers 
shabat  a  term  taken  over  from  the  Arabic  thabat, 
from  a  root  meaning  "rest,"  applied  to  the  lunar 
phases.6  As  the  outcome  of  extensive  philological 
study  Hehn  argues  that  shabattum  meant  originally 
"fulness,"  "completeness,"  the  notion  of  rest  being 

1  Babel  and  Bible,  p.  99.  form  list  (Rawlinson,  op.  cit.,  v,  pi. 

2  H.    Hirschfeld,    "  Remarks   on  28, 1.  e-f)  thelverb  shabatu  is  equated 
the      Etymology      of      Sabbath,"  with  gamdru^  which  is  thought  to 
Journal  of  the   Royal  Asiatic   So-  mean    "be   complete,"    "be   full," 
eiety,  1896,  n.s.,  xxviii,  357.  "cease,"    though    in    some    other 

3M.  Jastrow,  "The  Original  syllabaries  it  apparently  has  the 

Character  of  the  Hebrew  Sabbath,"  sense  of  "pacify."  In  the  light 

American  Journal  of  Theology,  of  the  meaning  now  assigned  to 

1898,  ii,  316  sq.f  351;  compare  shabattum  both  translations  appear 

idem,  Hebrew  and  Babylonian  Tra-  to  be  intelligible  and  harmonious. 
ditions,  New  York,  1914,  pp.  134,  8  T.  G.  Pinches,  The  Old  Testa- 

149.  ment,  London,  1902,  p.  327. 

4  H.  Zimmern,  in  Schrader,  Keil-  6  D.  Nielsen,  Die  altarabische 

inschriften,3  p.  593.  In  one  cunei-  Mondreligion,  pp.  87  sq. 


238  REST  DAYS 

later  and  entirely  secondary.1  Still  another  interpre- 
tation makes  shabattum  equivalent  to  "day  of  lament."  z 
Finally,  in  a  brief,  though  highly  suggestive  study, 
Professor  Toy  holds  that  the  root  idea  in  the  Baby- 
lonian expression  was  that  of  abstinence,  though 
shabattum  might  also  have  been  regarded  as  a  day  of 
propitiation  because  of  the  restrictions  attached  to  it.3 
These  conflicting  interpretations  scarcely  made  for 
confidence  in  the  results  of  a  purely  philological  analy- 
sis. Recent  discoveries,  however,  have  thrown  new 
light  on  the  problem.  A  lexicographical  tablet  from 
the  library  of  the  Assyrian  king  Asshurbanipal  gives 
the  names  attached  to  several  days  of  the  Babylonian 
month ;  and  among  these  is  the  designation  shabattum, 
applied  to  the  fifteenth  day.4  Still  more  recently  a 
similar  use  of  shabattum  has  been  found  in  a  text  which 
contains  an  account  of  the  moon's  course  during  the 
month.  Reference  is  here  made  to  the  first  appear- 
ance of  the  new  moon,  its  ash-grey  light  until  about 
the  seventh  day  thereafter,  its  opposition  with  the  sun 
on  the  fourteenth  day,  its  aspects  on  the  twenty-first, 
twenty-eighth,  and  twenty-ninth  days,  and  finally  its 
disappearance  on  the  thirtieth  day,  being  the  time  of 

1  J.  Hehn,  Siebenzahl  und  Sabbat,  were    subsequently    identified    by 
p.  98.  Dr.  Pinches,  to  whom,  accordingly, 

2  S.  Langdon,  "The  Derivation  full  credit  for  this  important  dis- 
of    Sabattu    and     Other     Notes,"  covery    should    be    ascribed.     See 
Zeitschrift    der    deutschen    morgen-  T.  G.  Pinches,  "  Sapattu,  the  Baby- 
Idndischen   Gesellschaft,    1908,    Ixii,  Ionian  Sabbath,"  Proceedings  of  the 
30.  Society  of  Biblical  Archeology,  1904, 

3  C.    H.    Toy,    "The    Earliest  xxvi,    51-56.     H.    Zimmern,    how- 
Form    of  the    Hebrew    Sabbath,"  ever,   had   previously   pointed   out 
Journal  of  Biblical  Literature,  1 899,  that,   according  to  the  Rawlinson 
xviii,     190    sqq.;     compare    idem,  text,  the  fifteenth  day  of  a  thirty- 
Introduction  to  the  History  of  Reli-  day  month  might  have  borne  the 
gions,  Boston,  1913,  p.  251.  designation  shabattum  (Zimmern,  in 

4  The  text  (K.  6012  +  K.  10,684)  Schrader,    Keilinschriften?   p.    593 
forms  a  part  of  the  British  Museum  n.3) ;     compare    his    comments    on 
collection  of  cuneiform  tablets.     A  Pinches's  discoveries  (Zeitschrift  der 
portion  of  the  text  was  published  deutschen    morgenldndischen    Gesell- 
by  Rawlinson  (op.  cit.,  iii,  pi.  56,  schaft,    1904,    Iviii,    199-202,    458- 
no.  4)  and  additions  to  it,  as  well  460). 

as  duplicate  Babylonian  fragments, 


THE   BABYLONIAN   "EVIL  DAYS"          239 

conjunction  with  the  sun.  In  this  description,  which 
for  minuteness  recalls  the  Polynesian  naming  of  the 
nights  from  successive  aspects  of  the  moon,1  the  fif- 
teenth day  again  appears  as  shabattum.2 

It  is  clear  that  the  Babylonians  recognized,  with 
many  other  peoples,  the  two  most  prominent  stages 
of  the  lunation,  new  moon  and  full  moon,  and  de- 
scribed them  by  particular  names,  nannaru  and  shabat- 
tum.  Evidence  exists,  moreover,  showing  that  these 
two  days  from  very  early  times  were  observed  as  festi- 
vals, particularly  in  the  cities  of  Ur  and  Harran.  Here 
were  the  chief  seats  of  the  cult  of  Sin,  the  moon-god, 
always  one  of  the  most  important  members  of  the 
Babylonian  pantheon  and  anciently  enjoying  prece- 
dence over  Shamash,  the  sun-god.3  Certain  cuneiform 
tablets,  all  written  down  during  the  time  of  the  Fourth 
Dynasty  of  Ur  and  dating,  therefore,  from  the  third 
millennium  B.C.,  distinctly  refer  to  sacrifices  which  were 
made  to  the  divine  kings  of  Ur  on  the  new-moon  day 
and  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  month.4  At  Harran,  where 

1  Above,  p.  181  ft.7  4  H.    Radau,   Early   Babylonian 

2  The  text    (K.   2164  +  2195+  History,     New    York,     1900,     pp. 
3510)    has    been    edited    with    a  314  sq.     The   tekt   on  the   statue 
translation  and  commentary  by  E.  of  Gudea,    a    chief,    or   patesi,   of 
Weidener,      "Zur      babylonischen  Lagash  (c.  2350  B.C.),  bears  record 
Astronomic,"  Babyloniaca,  1911,  vi,  of  a  rest  day  which  has  been  inter- 
8  sqq.     It  should  be  observed  that  preted  as  a  full-moon  day,  therefore 
it  belongs  to  the  same  series  as  the  as    a    shabattum:     "No    one    was 
text  (K.  170)  in  which  the  fifteenth  struck  with  the  whip,  the  mother 
day  is  expressly  described  as  the  corrected  not  her  child,  the  house- 
day  of  full  moon  (above,  p.  229).  holder,  the  overseer,  the  labourer 
Professor  A.  H.  Sayce  has  published  ...  the     work     of    their     hands 
a  table  of  lunar  longitudes  (K.  490)  ceased.     In     the     graves     of    the 
which  shows  how  many  degrees  the  city  ...  no    corpse    was    buried, 
moon    advances    during    the    first  The  Kalu  played  no  psalm,  uttered 
fifteen  days  of  the  month  and  how  no  dirge,  the  wailing  women  let  no 
many   degrees  it  retrogrades  dur-  dirge  be  heard.     In  the  realm  of 
ing  the  second  half  of  the  month  Lagash  no  man  who  had  a  lawsuit 
(Zeitschrift  fur  Assyriologie,   1887,  went  to  the  hall  of  justice."     See 
ii,  337-340).  A.  Jeremias,  The  Old  Testament  in 

3  Combe,    Histoire    du    culte    de  the    Light     of    the    Ancient    East, 
Sin,  pp.  46  sqq.,  86  sq.;   Jastrow,  London,    1911,    i,    203;     compare 
Religion  Babyloniens  und  Assyriens,  H.  Winckler,  Religions  geschichtlic  her 
i,  66  sq.,  72  sqq.  und  geschichtlic  her  Orient,  Leipzig, 


240  REST  DAYS 

the  cult  of  Sin  continued  to  flourish  under  the  Roman 
Empire  and  into  the  early  Middle  Ages,  four  sacri- 
ficial days  were  observed  every  month,  and  of  these 
at  least  two  were  determined  by  the  conjunction  and 
opposition  of  the  moon.1  Outside  the  Babylonian 
cultural  area,  but  within  the  general  field  of  Semitic 
religion,  there  is  also  the  interesting  evidence  yielded 
by  the  inscription  of  Narnaka,  which  indicates  that  as 
late  as  the  time  of  the  Ptolemies  new  moon  and  full 
moon  were  the  chief  periods  of  sacrifice  observed  by 
the  Phoenicians.2 

The  choice  of  the  fifteenth  day  as  the  shabbatum  was 
obviously  determined  by  the  length  of  the  Babylonian 
month,  which  in  the  earlier  period  was  regularly  taken 
at  thirty  days'  duration.  We  have  seen,  however, 
that,  where  lunar  reckonings  are  employed  and  the 
month  begins  at  sunset  with  the  visible  new  moon, 
the  fourteenth  day  more  commonly  coincides  with 
the  full  of  the  moon.3  Shabattum  being  the  technical 
expression  for  the  fifteenth  day  as  the  time  of  full 
moon,  it  is  only  reasonable  to  conclude  that,  if  not  the 
name,  at  any  rate  the  observances  belonging  to  this 

1906,     p.    61.      Professor    Morris  name  of  the  Moon,   which   same 

Jastrow  holds,  however,  that  this  custom  prevails  among  them  to  the 

passage    from    the    inscription    of  present  day"   (Sir  William  Muir, 

Gudea  has  no  reference  to  the  full  The  Apology  of  Al  Kindy?  London, 

moon  (American  Journal  of  Semitic  1887,  p.  17). 

Languages    and   Literatures,    1914,  2  W.    F.   von   Landau,   Beitrdge 

xxx,  98  n.z).  zur    Altertumskunde    des    Orients, 

1 D.     Chwolsohn,    Die    Ssabier  Leipzig,  1899,  ii,  46  sq.;    compare 

und  der  Ssabismus,  St.  Petersburg,  idem,  Die  phonizischen  Inschriften, 

1856,  ii,  8,  94  sqq.y  translating  the  Leipzig,     1907,    p.    22     (Der    alte 

Fihrist  (ix,  i,  5)  of  Ibn  al-Nadlm.  Orient,  viii,  3). 
On  the  Harranians  see  in  general  3  Above,  p.   182  n.7    There  are 

D.   S.  Margoliouth,  in  Hastings's  numerous   reports   by    Babylonian 

Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  astrologers     according     to     which 

vi,  519  sq.     It  is  curious  to  find  a  any   one   of   five    days,    from    the 

Moslem    tradition,    current    about  twelfth    to    the    sixteenth    of   the 

830  A.D.,  that  "Abraham  lived  with  month,    might    be    taken    as    the 

his    people    four-score    years    and  exact  time  when  the  moon  became 

ten  in  the  land  of  Harran,  worship-  full,  depending,  of  course,  upon  how 

ping  none  other  than  Al  Ozza,  an  early  or  how  late  was  the  visible 

idol  famous  in  that  land  and  adored  new  moon  (Kugler,  Sternkunde  und 

by  the  men  of  Harran,  under  the  Sterndienst  in  Babel,  ii,  14  sq.). 


THE   BABYLONIAN   "EVIL  DAYS 


241 


day  would  be  often  transferred  to  the  fourteenth  of 
the  month,  or  to  any  other  day  on  which  the  moon 
became  full.  No  other  hypothesis  will  explain  the 
outstanding  fact  that  shabattum  was  equated  with 
um  nukh  libbi  as  a  day  for  appeasing  the  anger  of  the 
deity.  And  if  for  practical  purposes  the  fourteenth 
day  might  be  a  shabattum,  it  is  not  difficult  to  assume 
that  this  was  also  the  case  with  the  days  (seventh, 
twenty-first,  and  twenty-eighth,  perhaps,  also,  the 
nineteenth),  which  marked  other  characteristic  stages 
of  the  lunation.  In  the  developed  Babylonian  cult 
all  these  were  "evil  days,"  when  the  gods  must  be 
propitiated  and  conciliated.  In  the  primitive  faith 
of  Semitic  peoples  they  were  occasions  observed  with 
superstitious  concern  as  times  of  fasting,  cessation  of 
activity,  and  other  forms  of  abstinence.1 


1  The  Rev.  C.  H.  C.  Johns  has 
pointed  out  that  in  Babylonian 
calendars  many  days  are  indicated 
as  nubattUy  a  term  signifying  rest, 
pause,  and  especially  a  god's 
connubial  rest  with  his  consort 
goddess.  "  The  observance  of  such 
days  was  a  bar  to  attending  even 
to  important  diplomatic  business  or 
setting  out  on  a  journey.  .  .  ." 
It  is  quite  possible  that  shabattum 
and  nubattum  are  from  the  same 


root  and  originally  denoted  much 
the  same  thing  —  a  pause,  absten- 
tion, from  whatever  cause  or  for 
ceremonial  purposes"  (Encyclo- 
pcedia  Britannica,11  xxiii,  961  sq.). 
A  calendar  of  the  intercalary 
month  of  Elul  cites  the  3d,  7th, 
and  i6th  days  as  the  nubattu  of 
Marduk  and  his  consort  Sarpanit 
(Lagrange,  op.  cit.,  p.  284  n.6; 
Schrader,  Keilinschriften?  p.  371). 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    HEBREW   SABBATH 

THE  earliest  Biblical  references  to  the  Sabbath  all 
indicate  that  the  institution  had  long  been  found 
among  the  Hebrews.  It  appears  in  the  most  ancient 
documents  of  the  Law,  such  as  the  two  Decalogues,1 
the  old  "Ritual  Code,"  and  the  nearly  related  "Book 
of  the  Covenant."2  It  is  mentioned  in  the  "Books 
of  Kings"  during  the  time  of  the  prophet  Elisha.3 
It  is  noticed  in  the  prophecies  of  Amos  and  Hosea.4 
The  antiquity  of  the  Sabbath  is  further  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  Hebrew  tradition  preserved  no  certain 
information  of  its  origin.  From  the  Old  Testament 
we  cannot  tell  whether  the  Sabbath  was  hallowed  in 
remembrance  of  Jehovah's  rest  after  the  Creation,5 
or  whether  it  was  instituted  as  a  memorial  of  the  escape 
of  the  Hebrews  from  Egypt.6  Assuming,  with  most 
reputable  critics,  that  the  narrative  in  the  first  chapter 
of  Genesis,  which  divides  the  work  of  creation  into  six 
days,  is  comparatively  late,  it  follows  that  the  Sabbath 


form  of  the  Fourth  Com-  32  Kings,  iv,  23.     This  is  per- 

mandment  in  the  First  Decalogue  haps  the  earliest  historical  reference 

(Exodus,  xx,   8),   "Remember  the  to  the  Sabbath. 

Sabbath    Day,   to   keep   it   holy,"  4  Amos,  viii,  5;   Hosea,  ii,  II. 

indicates  not  the  institution  of  a  6  Genesis,  ii,   2-3  ;    Exodus,   xx, 

new  day  but  the  sanctioning  of  an  ii. 

old    one.     In    the    Second    Deca-  6  Deuteronomy,  v.  15;    compare 

logue    (Deuteronomy,    v,    12),    the  Nehemiah,  ix,   14;   Ezekiel,  xx,  12. 

commandment    reads:      "Observe  The  principal  Old  Testament  refer- 

the  Sabbath  Day,  to  keep  it  holy."  ences   to  the   Sabbath   have   been 

The    word    "holy"    in    these    in-  grouped  in  their  assumed  histori- 

junctions    has   the   force   of    "set  cal   order  by   E.   G.    King,    "The 

apart   ritually,"    "separated    from  Sabbath  in  the  Light  of  the  Higher 

common  use,"  i.e.,  taboo.  Criticism,"  Expository*  Times,  1906, 

2  Exodus,  xxxiv,  21,  xxiii,  12.  xvii,  438-443. 

242 


THE  HEBREW  SABBATH  243 

could  not  have  been  founded  as  a  reminiscence  of  the 
completion  of  the  Creation.  The  author  must  have 
been  familiar  with  the  institution  of  a  seven-day  week 
ending  in  a  Sabbath.  Its  chief  characteristic  was  then 
that  of  a  day  of  rest,  as  appears  from  the  fact  that, 
without  mentioning  the  Sabbath  by  name,  he  seeks 
to  glorify  it  by  placing  the  hallowed  character  of  the 
seventh  day  at  the  beginning  of  the  world.  The  sanc- 
tity of  the  seventh  day  is  in  reality  antedated,  and  the 
priestly  writer  wished  to  adjust  artificially  the  work  of 
creation  to  it.1 

An  old  and  still  common  theory  derives  the  Sab- 
bath institution  from  the  worship  of  Saturn,  after 
which  planet  the  first  day  of  the  astrological  week 
received  its  designation.2  The  theory  is  untenable 
for  more  than  one  reason.  In  the  first  place  the  He- 
brews did  not  name  their  weekdays  after  the  planets, 
but  indicated  them  by  ordinal  numbers.  In  the  second 
place  Saturn's  Day  began  the  planetary  week,  while 
the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  regarded  as  the  last  day  of 
the  seven,  a  suitable  position  for  a  rest  day.  And  in 
the  third  place  neither  the  Hebrews  nor  any  other 
Oriental  people  ever  worshipped  the  planet  Saturn  as 
god  and  observed  his  day  as  a  festival.  It  is  true  that, 
besides  Venus,  another  planet  familiar  to  the  Hebrews 
may  be  recognized  in  the  Old  Testament  under  the 

1 M.    Jastrow,    "The    Original  p.     70).     Later     Hebrew     writers 

Character    of    the    Hebrew    Sab-  carry  this  idea  of  correspondence 

bath,"   American  Journal  of  The-  so  far  as  to  require  the  angels  to 

ology,    1898,    ii,    313    sq.;     S.    R.  observe    all    the    Jewish    festivals 

Driver,     The     Book     of    Genesis*  (H.    P.    Smith,    The    Religion     of 

London,      1906,      p.      35.     Canon  Israel,  New  York,  1914,  p.  229). 
Cheyne  suggests  that  the  priestly  2  F.     Baur,      'Der     hebraische 

writer  in  Genesis,  ii,  2  sqq.  appears  Sabbat  und  die  Nationalfeste  des 

to     accept     the     anthropomorphic  mosaischen       Cultus,"       Tubinger 

view    which    finds    such    frequent  Zeitschrift  fur   Theologie,   1832,  iii, 

expression    in    Oriental    antiquity.  145  sqq.;   A  Kuenen,  The  Religion 

Things    on    earth    correspond    to  of  Israel,  London,  1873,  i,  262  sqq.; 

things  in  heaven;   if  God  "rested"  Paul  de  Lagarde,  editor, Psalteriurn 

on  the  seventh  day,  man  ought  to  iuxta  Hebrceos  Hieronymi,  Leipzig, 

do  likewise  (Traditions  and  Beliefs  1874,  158  sqq. 
of  Ancient    Israel,    London,    I9°7> 


244  REST 

name  Kewan,  the  Assyrian  designation  of  Saturn.1 
This  name  appears  in  a  passage  of  Amos,  where  the 
prophet  has  been  supposed  to  be  referring  to  an  early 
worship  of  Saturn  by  the  Israelites  during  the  period 
of  their  sojourn  in  the  Wilderness.2  But  a  single  Old 
Testament  text,  both  corrupt  and  obscure,  can  scarcely 
be  cited  as  proving  that  Saturn  was  ever  recognized 
by  the  Israelites  as  a  distinct  god.  If  it  be  held 
that  Amos  had  in  mind  the  Hebrews  of  his  own  time, 
the  passage  in  question  can  only  refer  to  the  adoption 
by  them  of  astrological  notions  derived  from  Baby- 
lonia. These  imported  superstitions  eventually  led 
Jewish  rabbis  to  call  Saturn  Shabbti,  "the  star  of  the 
Sabbath,"  which,  however,  is  not  a  naming  of  the  day 
after  the  planet,  but  a  naming  of  the  planet  after  the 
day.  It  was  not  until  the  first  century  of  our  era,  when 
the  planetary  week  had  become  an  established  insti- 
tution, that  the  Jewish  Sabbath  seems  always  to  have 
corresponded  to  Saturn's  Day.3 

The  association  of  the  Sabbath  Day  with  Saturday 
was  probably  one  reason  why  Saturn,  a  planet  in  Baby- 
lonian astrological  schemes  regarded  as  beneficent 
rather  than  malefic,  should  have  come  to  assume  in 
late  classical  times  the  role  of  an  unlucky  star  (sidus 
tristissimum,  Stella  iniquissima) .  The  oldest  refer- 
ence to  Saturday  is  found  in  a  verse  by  the  poet  Tibul- 

1  Schiaparelli,  Astronomy  in  the  fur  neutestamentliche  Wissenschaft, 
Old  Testament,  pp.  48  sq.;   P.  Jen-  1905,   vi,   6   sq.,    19.     There   is    a 
sen,   "Astronomy,"   Jewish   Ency-  Talmudic   story   which    tells    how 
clopedia,  ii,  246.  Moses,      having      arranged      with 

2  Amos,  v,  26 ;  W.  R.  Harper,  A  Pharaoh  for  a  day  of  rest  to  be 
Critical  and  Exegetical  Commentary  observed  by  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt, 
on  Amos  and  Hosea,  New  York,  was   asked  what  day   he  thought 
1905,    pp.    137   sqq.;     K.    Budde,  most    suitable    for    the    purpose. 
The  Religion  of  Israel  to  the  Exile,  Moses    answered,    "The    seventh 
New  York,  1899,  pp.  67  sqq.  day,  sacred  to  Saturn;    work  done 

3J.   Fiirst,  Kultur-  und   Liter  a-  upon    this    day    never    prospers" 

turgeschichte  der  Juden   in   Asien,  (Jeremias,    The   Old    Testament   in 

Leipzig,     1849,     pt.     i,     40;      W.  the   Light   of  the   Ancient   East,   i, 

Nowack,  Lehrbuch  der  hebrdischen  202;     Delitzsch,   Babel  and  Bible, 

Archdologie,    Strassburg,    1894,   ii,  p.  102). 
142  sq.;    E.  Schiirer,  in  Zeitschrift 


THE  HEBREW  SABBATH  245 

his  (d.  19  B.C.),  who  apparently  identifies  Saturn's 
Day  with  the  supposed  inauspicious  Jewish  Sabbath, 
when  he  gives  as  one  of  his  excuses  for  not  quitting 
Rome  the  bad  omens  which  detained  him  "on  the 
sacred  day  of  Saturn."1  Ovid  mentions  "foreign 
Sabbaths"  along  with  the  anniversary  of  the  day  of 
the  battle  of  the  Allia  —  dies  Alliensis  —  as  unlucky 
occasions.2  Frontinus,  a  Roman  military  officer  and 
tactician  (d.  about  103  A.D.),  says  that  Vespasian  de- 
feated the  Jews  by  attacking  them  on  Saturn's  Day, 
when  it  was  unlawful  for  them  to  do  anything.  Dio 
Cassius  also  speaks  of  the  Jews  having  dedicated  to 
their  god  the  day  called  the  day  of  Saturn,  "on  which, 
among  many  other  most  peculiar  actions,  they  under- 
take no  serious  occupation."  3 

The  Hebrews  manifested  so  little  originality  in  cul- 
tural matters  and  borrowed  so  heavily  from  their 
neighbours  that  it  becomes  a  natural  inquiry  whether 
the  Sabbath,  with  the  seven-day  week,  may  not  have 
arisen  outside  of  Israel.  Writing  in  the  seventeenth 
century  the  learned  John  Spencer  argued  that  Egypt 
was  the  original  home  of  the  institution,  since  in  various 
Old  Testament  passages  the  Sabbath  is  declared  to 
have  been  established  to  commemorate  the  exodus  from 
Egypt.4  But  the  Egyptians,  as  we  have  seen,  divided 
their  months  into  decades,  and  no  evidence  exists 

1  Saturni  aut  sacram  me  tenuisse  sabbat  juif  et  les   poetes  latins," 
diem  (Elegice,  i,  3,  18).  Revue    d'histoire    et    de    litter ature 

2  Ovid,  Remedium  amoris,  220;  religieuses,     1903,     viii,     305-335; 
compare    idem,    Ars    amatoria,    i,  T.  Reinach,   Textes  d'auteurs  grecs 
415-416;    Horace,  Satires,  i,  9,  69-  et    remains    relatifs    au    Judaisms, 
70;    Persius,  Satira,  v,  184.  Paris,  1895,  pp.  104,  243,  266,  287; 

3  Frontinus,  Strategematica,  ii,  i,  M.  Wolff,  "Het  oordeel  der  helle- 
17;   Dio  Cassius,  Historia  Romana,  nensch-romeinsche  schrijvers  over 
xxxvii,    17.     Tacitus   (Historia,  v,  oorsprong,   naam,   en   viering  van 
4)  thinks  that  the  Jewish  Sabbath  der     Sabbat,"     Theologisch     Tijd- 
may  be  an  observance  in  honour  of  schrift,  1910,  xliv,  162-172. 
Saturn,  though  he  gives  an  alter-  4  J.  Spencer,  De  legibus  Hebrceo- 
native  explanation,  connecting  the  rum  ritualibus  et  earum  rationibus, 
day  with  the  escape  from  Egyptian  Cambridge,  1727,  i,  67  sqq.  (bk.  i, 
bondage.     For  other  evidence  from  ch.  v,  sect.  viii). 

classical  writers  see  P.  Lejay,  "Le 


246  REST  DAYS 

that  they  ever  employed  for  civil  purposes  any  shorter 
division  of  the  month.1  A  second  hypothesis,  which 
makes  the  week  and  the  Sabbath  a  direct  importation 
from  Babylonia,  is  likewise  without  warrant  in  the 
light  of  existing  information.2  The  same  may  be  said 
of  the  theory  that  the  Sabbath  was  first  taken  over 
from  Babylonia  by  the  agricultural  inhabitants  of  Ca- 
naan, from  whom,  in  turn,  the  Israelites  borrowed  an 
institution  which  would  have  no  meaning  to  a  nomadic 
people.3  But  the  opinion,  so  frequently  expressed, 
that  the  Sabbath  cannot  be  very  primitive,  since  it 
"presupposes  agriculture  and  a  tolerably  hard-pressed 
working-day  life,"  4  betrays  an  imperfect  acquaintance 
with  popular  superstition.  The  brief  prohibitions 
of  work  found  in  the  Pentateuch  cannot  be  separated, 
by  any  subtleties  of  exegesis,  from  the  numerous  other 
taboos  with  which  the  institution  was  invested.  The 
rest  on  the  Sabbath  is  only  one  of  the  forms  of  absti- 
nence in  connection  with  lunar  changes  ;  and,  if  the 
Sabbath  began  as  a  festival  at  new  moon  and  full  moon, 
it  may  well  have  been  observed  by  the  Israelites  before 
their  contact  with  Canaanitish  culture.  The  ancient 
dwellers  in  the  Arabian  wilderness,  who  celebrated  new 
moon  and  full  moon  as  seasons  of  abstinence  and  rest, 
little  dreamed  that  in  their  senseless  custom  lay  the 
roots  of  a  social  institution,  which,  on  the  whole,  has 
contributed  to  human  welfare  in  past  ages  and  prom- 
ises an  even  greater  measure  of  benefit  to  humanity  in 
all  future  times. 

To  a   shepherd  people  in  tropical  or  semi-tropical 
lands  the  moon  appears  as  a  gentle  guardian,  bringing 

1  Above,  p.  191.  Religionswissenschaft,       1902,       v, 

2  Below,  pp.  253  sq.  321. 

3  Nowack,  op.  cit.y  ii,  144;    R.  4J.     Wellhausen,     Prolegomena 
Smend,   Lehrbuch  der  alttestament-  zur      Geschichte     Israels?     Berlin, 
lichen  Religions  geschichte,  Freiburg-  1905,  p.  109;    W.  E.  Addis,  Docu- 
i.-B.,      1899,     pp.      160     sq.;     A.  ments    of  the    Hexateuch,    London, 
F.    von   Gall,   "Die  alttestament-  1892,  i,   139;    idem,  Hebrew  Reli- 
liche  Wissenschaft  und  die   keilin-  gion  to  the  Establishment  of  Judaism 
schriftliche  Forschung,"  Archiv  fur  under  Ezra,  London,  1906,  p.  85. 


THE   HEBREW  SABBATH  247 

restful  coolness  after  the  day  with  its  withering  heat, 
and  dispelling  with  her  kindly  beams  the  thick  dark- 
ness which  may  cloak  a  lurking  foe.  "This,"  writes 
an  intrepid  traveller,  "is  the  planet  of  way  for  the  way- 
faring Semitic  race.  The  moon  is  indeed  a  watch- 
light  of  the  night  in  the  nomad  wilderness ;  they  are 
glad  in  her  shining  upon  the  great  upland,  they  may 
sleep  then  in  some  assurance  from  their  enemies."  l 
To  the  Israelites,  as  to  the  ancient  Egyptians,  the 
moon  was  preeminently  the  "wanderer,"  by  whose 
movements  the  earliest  calendars  were  framed.2  One 
of  the  Hebrew  names  for  "month"  is  yerah,  from 
ydreah,  "moon" ;  it  is  called,  also  hodesh,  which  means 
new  moon.  One  of  the  most  magnificent  of  the 
Psalms  declares  that  Jehovah  "appointed  the  moon 
for  the  seasons" ; 3  all  the  Jewish  festivals  were  deter- 
mined by  the  moon.  At  the  same  time  there  is  no 
Biblical  testimony  to  indicate  that  the  Israelites  ever 
conceived  of  the  moon  as  a  divinity  and  addressed  to 
that  luminary  specific  acts  of  worship.  It  was  only 
toward  the  end  of  the  Hebrew  monarchy,  when  the 
Chosen  People  were  giving  themselves  over  to  astrology, 
divination,  and  the  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 

1 C.    M.    Doughty,    Travels    in  weeks,    is    found    in    two    pseudo- 

Arabia  Deserta,  Cambridge,   1888,  graphia  which  date  probably  from 

i,  366.  Maccabaean  times  (Book  of  Enoch 

2  The    Hebrew    lunisolar    year  and    Book   of  Jubilees),   but   it   is 

consisted    of   twelve    months,    ad-  hardly  likely  that  solar  reckonings 

justed    to   the   solar   year   by    the  were  then  in  general  use.     On  this 

intercalation  of  a  thirteenth  month.  subject  consult  S.  Poznanski,  "Cal- 

The  name  of  the  latter  is  first  met  endar     (Jewish),"     in     Hastings's 

in  the  Mishna,  where  it  is  styled  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics, 

the  "second  Adar."     The  months  iii,  117  sqq. 

consisted  of  29  days  (hence  called  3  Psalms,    civ,     19.       Compare 

"defective"     months),    or    of    30  Ecclesiasticus,  xliii,  6-8 :  " He  made 

days    ("full"    months),   but   there  the  moon  also  to  serve  in  her  season 

seems    to    have    been    no    uniform  for  a  declaration  of  times,  and  a 

sequence  of  long  and  short  months.  sign  of  the  world.     From  the  moon 

The  regulation  of  the  month  was  is  the  sign  of  feasts,  a  light  that 

probably  at  first  in  the  hands  of  decreaseth  in  her  perfection.     The 

the    priests    and    later    was    com-  month   is   called    after   her   name, 

mitted  to  the  Sanhedrin.     A  solar  increasing      wonderfully      in      her 

year  of  364  days,  i.e.,  52  complete  changing." 


248  REST  DAYS 

that  clear  evidence  of  a  moon-cult  appears  in  the  Old 
Testament,  where  it  encounters  the  denunciation  of  the 
prophets,  the  prohibitions  of  the  Law,  and  the  repres- 
sive measures  of  a  reforming  king.1 

The  evidence  is  quite  conclusive  that  of  the  lunar 
phases  it  was  especially  the  new  moon  and  the  full 
moon  which  first  aroused  the  attention  of  the  Semitic 
nomads  and  evoked  feelings  of  delight  and  veneration. 
Even  to-day  "the  first  appearing  of  the  virgin  moon  is 
always  greeted  with  a  religious  emotion  in  the  deserts 
of  Arabia." 2  When  the  Bedouin  and  Fellahin  of 
modern  Palestine  first  see  the  lunar  crescent  they 
exclaim,  "God's  new  moon  has  appeared  in  his  exalted- 
ness.  May  it  be  for  us  a  blessed  new  moon."  3  Mod- 
ern Jewish  ritual  prescribes  a  special  service  for  the 
new-moon  day,  including  the  recital  of  psalms  of  joy. 
So  familiar  an  expression  as  Hallelujah,  "praise  Jeho- 
vah" (Jahweh),  is  a  verbal  form  of  the  onomatopoetic 
stem  hilal,  meaning  "new  moon,"  "crescent,"  with  the 
addition  of  the  divine  name.4  The  Hebrew  month, 
as  among  other  peoples  who  count  by  lunations,  began 
when  the  silvery  crescent  was  first  discerned  in  the 
evening  twilight.  In  later  Judaism,  as  soon  as  the 
moon's  appearance  was  proved  by  credible  witnesses 
before  the  Sanhedrin  at  Jerusalem,  the  feast  of  the  new 

1  Jeremiah,  viii,  2 ;    Zephaniah,  to   take  off  their  caps  to  the  new 

i,  5 ;  Deuteronomy,  xvii,  3  ;  2  Kings,  moon. 

xxiii,  5;  G.  W.  Gilmore,  "Moon,"  2  Doughty,  op.  cit.,  ii,  305  sq.; 
New  Schaf-Herzog  Encyclopedia  of  compare  D.  Nielsen,  Die  alt- 
Religious  Knowledge,  vii,  493.  arabische  Mondreligion  und  die 
That  no  trace  of  the  cult  of  Sin,  mosaische  Uberlieferung,  Strassburg, 
the  Babylonian  moon-god,  is  dis-  1904^.50.  For  the  Abyssinian  cus- 
coverable  in  the  Old  Testament,  toms  see  E.  Littmann,  in  Archivfuf 


even  in  the  name  Sinai,  is  the  Religionswissenschaft,i()o8,x\,3i3sq. 
opinion  of  the  latest  investigator  3  Mrs.  H.  H.  Spoer,  in  Folk- 
of  this  subject.  See  E.  Combe,  lore,  1910,  xxi,  289. 
Histoire  du  culte  de  Sin,  Paris,  1908,  4  M.  Jastrow,  Aspects  of  Reli- 
pp.  157  sqq.  The  custom  of  kiss-  gious  Belief  and  Practice  in  Baby- 
ing the  hand  to  the  moon  (Job,  Ionia  and  Assyria,  New  York,  1911, 
xxxi,  26 sq.)  may  have  meant  to  the  pp.  214  w.3,  336  w.2;  F.  Hommel, 
Hebrews  little  more  than  it  does  Der  Gestirndienst  der  alien  Araber 
to  us.  Orthodox  Jewish  mothers  und  die  altisraelitische  Uberlieferung* 
are  said  still  to  teach  their  sons  Munich,  1901,  p.  28. 


THE   HEBREW   SABBATH  249 

moon  was  held,  and  messengers  were  sent  abroad  to 
announce  the  opening  of  the  new  month.  The  cele- 
bration of  the  festival  would  seem,  at  least  occasion- 
ally, to  have  lasted  two  days,  an  arrangement  obviously 
dictated  by  the  inability  to  determine  beforehand  on 
which  of  two  successive  days  the  moon  might  be  ex- 
pected to  appear.1 

The  new-moon  festival  was  considered  an  exceptional 
solemnity  as  early  as  the  time  of  Saul.  The  twentieth 
chapter  of  the  First  Book  of  Samuel  records  a  conversa- 
tion between  David  and  Jonathan  in  which  the  former 
says,  "  Behold,  to-morrow  i's  the  new  moon,  and  I 
should  not  fail  to  sit  at  meat  with  the  king."  It 
appears  from  this  chapter  that  the  first  two  days  of 
the  month  were  marked  by  feasts  at  which  all  members 
of  the  household  were  expected  to  be  present,  unless 
prevented  by  some  ceremonial  uncleanness.2  The 
occasion  was  also  observed  by  compulsory  abstinence 
from  all  servile  work.3  In  the  time  of  Elisha  the  new 

1  i  Samuel,  xx,  27-28;   compare  Greek  Septuagint,  the  Latin  Vul- 
Judith,  viii,  6.     On  the  new-moon  gate,    and    the    Jewish    Aramaic 
festival   see   Nowack,   op.   cit.,   ii,  Targum   as   the   designation   of  a 
138    sqq.;     Wellhausen,    op.    cit.,  working  day,   in   distinction   from 
pp.      107     sqq.;      I.      Benzinger,  the  festival  day  of  the  new  moon. 
Hebrdische  Archaologie?  Tubingen,  The  Douai  version  of  the    Scrip- 
1907,    pp.    388    sq.;     G.    Forster,  tures    translates    accordingly,    "in 
"  Die  Neumondfeier  im  Alten  Tes-  the  day  when  it  is  lawful  to  work." 
tament,"     Zeitschrift    fur    wissen-  Professor  H.  P.  Smith  holds  that, 
schaftliche     Theologie,     1906,    xlix,  owing  to  the  corruption  of  the  text, 
1-17;   B.  Stade,  Biblische  Theologie  the  particular  day  here  intended  is 
des    Alten    Testaments,    Tubingen,  no    longer   intelligible    (A   Critical 
1905,    i,    176   sqq.;    A.    Dillmann,  and  Exegetical  Commentary  on  the 
Die  Bile  her  Exodus  und  Leviticus,*  Books  of  Samuel,  New  York,  1899, 
edited  by  V.  Ryssel,  Leipzig,  1897,  pp.    190  sq.}.     He   has,   however, 
pp.     634     sqq.     See     also     "New  overlooked  the  fact,  that,  as  my 
Moon"    in    Hastings's    Dictionary  friend    and     pupil    Rabbi     Jacob 
of  the  Bible,  Jewish  Encyclopedia,  Singer  points  out  to  me,  the  same 
and  Encyclopedia  Biblica.  expression   she  set  yeme  hama  'aseh 

2  I  Samuel,  xx,  5-6,  24-29.  is  found  in  Ezekiel  (xlvi,  i)  as  the 

3  Ibid.)     xx,     18-19.     In     verse  designation    of   "the    six    working 
19   the   Hebrew   expression   beyom  days"   of  the   week;     see   Brown, 
hama  'aseh,  rendered  in  the  Author-  Driver,  and  Briggs,  A  Hebrew  and 
ized  Version  (margin)  "in  the  day  English  Lexicon  of  the  Old   Testa- 
of  the   business,"   appears   in   the  ment,  Boston,  1906,  p.  795. 


250  REST  DAYS 

moon  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  favourite  occasions 
for  consulting  the  prophets,  a  circumstance  which 
could  be  explained  if  the  day  were  marked  by  a  cessa- 
tion of  the  usual  occupations.1  There  are  other  reasons, 
presently  to  be  given,  for  believing  that  until  the 
Exile,  or  later,  the  new  moon  was  a  general  rest  day ; 
and  such  it  still  remains  for  Jewish  women,  whose  con- 
servative instincts  have  thus  preserved  a  memorial 
of  its  ancient  observance.2 

Full  moon,  as  well  as  new  moon,  enjoyed  a  religious 
significance  to  the  early  Hebrews.  Two  great  agri- 
cultural festivals,  one  marking  the  commencement  of 
the  barley  harvest,  the  other,  the  close  of  the  fruit 
harvest,  must  have  been  celebrated  at  about  the 
time  of  full  moon,  for,  when  the  sacred  calendar  was 
framed  in  post-Exilic  times,  they  were  definitely  fixed 
at  the  middle  of  the  month.3  The  Passover,  observed 
on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first  month  (Nisan), 
was  followed  on  the  fifteenth  day  by  the  Feast  of  Un- 
leavened Bread,  occupying  seven  days.4  The  Feast 
of  Tabernacles  began  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  seventh 
month  (Tishri)  and  likewise  continued  for  seven  days.5 

1  2  Kings,  iv,  23.     Some  Biblical  einer  Feier  des  Vollmondes  zeigt 
references    indicate    that    on    the  sich  bei  den  Israeliten  keine  Spur, 
first  day  of  the  month  the  prophets  .  .  .  Jedoch   war   er   dadurch   be- 
were  supposed  to  be  most  under  vorzugt,  dass  an  ihm  das    grosse 
the  influence  of  their  divine  afflatus ;  Friihlings-  und  Herbstfest  begann  " 
compare  JSzekiel,  xxvi,  I,  xxix,  17,  (Die  Biicher  Exodus  und  Leviticus,3 
xxxi,  i,    xxxii,  i;    Haggai,  i,  I.  p.  635).     A  passage  in  one  of  the 

2  John  Allen,  Modern  Judaism,2  Psalms     (Ixxxi,     3):      "Blow    the 
London,  1830,  pp.  390  sq.;   H.  G.  trumpet  at  the  new  moon,  at  the 
F.    Lowe,    Schulchan    Aruch,    oder  full     moon,     on     our     feast-day," 
die     vier     jiidischen     Gesetzbucher,  probably   refers   to   new   moon   in 
Vienna,  1896,  i,  91 ;  M.  Friedmann,  the  seventh  month,  or  New  Year's 
in  Jewish  Quarterly  Review,   1891,  Day  (Leviticus,  xxiii,  24),  and  to  the 
iii,  712;    Isra'ei  Abrahams,  Jewish  first  day  of  the  Feast  of  Taber- 
Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,  London,  nacles,    which    began    on    the    fif- 
1896,  p.  374.  teenth  of  the  same  month   (ibid., 

3  That   the  Old  Testament  thus  xxiii,  39). 

contains  indirect  evidence  of  the  4  Leviticus,  xxiii,   5-6 ;    Exodus, 

celebration    of   full-moon    day    by  xii,   6   sqq.;  Numbers,  xxviii,    16- 

the  early   Hebrews  was  long  ago  17. 

recognized  by  the  learned  commen-  5  Leviticus,    xxiii,     33-36,      39; 

tator,     August     Dillmann.     "Von  Numbers,  xxix,  12. 


THE  HEBREW  SABBATH  251 

The  religious  importance  of  these  two  festivals  is 
indicated  by  the  injunction  to  keep  the  first  and  last 
days  of  the  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread  as  times  of 
"holy  convocation,"  when  no  "servile  work"  might  be 
done,1  and  by  the  significant  expression  shabbdthon 
("solemn  rest"),  which  is  used  in  reference  to  the  begin- 
ning and  end  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  that  is,  to 
the  fifteenth  and  twenty-second  of  the  month  Tishri.2 
Furthermore,  the  Pentateuchal  codes  contain  a  pas- 
sage, the  meaning  of  which  was  in  dispute  several 
centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  where  the  word 
"Sabbath"  appears  to  be  used  in  a  sense  precisely 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Babylonian  shabattum,  referring 
to  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month.  In  the  twenty- 
third  chapter  of  Leviticus  it  is  prescribed  that  on  "the 
morrow  after  the  Sabbath"  the  sheaf  of  the  first-fruits 
of  the  harvest  is  to  be  brought  to  the  priest,  who  shall 
wave  it  before  Jehovah,  and  that,  counting  from  "  the 
morrow  after  the  Sabbath,"  fifty  days  are  to  elapse 
before  the  commencement  of  the  Feast  of  Weeks.3 
As  Professor  Jastrow  has  clearly  shown,  the  word 
"Sabbath"  is  here  used,  not  in  its  later  sense  of  a 
seventh  day  of  rest,  but  as  a  survival  of  the  old  designa- 
tion of  the  Sabbath  as  the  full-moon  day.  "The 
two  references  in  Leviticus  stand  out  as  solitary  sign- 
posts of  an  abandoned  road."  4 

In  some  of  the  older  parts  of  the  Bible,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  earlier  prophetical  compositions,  the  new 
moon  and  the  Sabbath  are  repeatedly  mentioned  to- 
gether. In  the  pathetic  narrative  which  describes 
how  the  Shunammite  woman  went  to  seek  Elisha  that 
the  prophet  might  restore  her  son  to  life,  her  husband 
asks,  "'Wherefore  wilt  thou  go  to  him  to-day?  It  is 
neither  new  moon  nor  Sabbath."  The  prophet 

1  Leviticus,  xxiii,  6-8;    Exodus,      the  Sabbath,"'  American  Journal 
xii,  16;    Numbers^  xxviii,  18,  25.          of  Semitic   Languages   and   Liter  a- 

2  Leviticus,  xxiii,  39;    Numbers,      tures,  1914,  xxx,  104. 

xxix,  12,  35.  5  2  Kings,  iv,  23.     This  passage, 

3  Leviticus,  xxiii,  n,  15.  incidentally,  affords  proof  that  at 
4M.  Jastrow,  "'The  Day  after      the  time  it  was  written  the  legal 


252  REST  DAYS 

Hosea,  promising  that  the  people's  unfaithfulness 
shall  be  punished,  cries  out  wrathfully,  "I  will  also 
cause  all  her  mirth  to  cease,  her  feasts,  her  new  moons, 
and  her  Sabbaths,  and  all  her  solemn  assemblies."  l 
Amos  rebukes  the  oppressors  of  his  people  "that 
would  swallow  up  the  needy,  and  cause  the  poor  of 
the  land  to  fail,  saying  'When  will  the  new  moon  be 
gone,  that  we  may  sell  grain  ?  and  the  Sabbath,  that 
we  may  set  forth  wheat,  making  the  ephah  small  and 
the  shekel  great  ?'"  2  Isaiah  condemns  the  formalism 
of  the  ancient  faith  in  striking  words  :  "Bring  no  more 
vain  oblations ;  incense  is  an  abomination  unto  me ; 
new  moon  and  Sabbath,  the  calling  of  assemblies  - 
cannot  bear  iniquity  with  the  solemn  meeting."  3 
Elsewhere,  in  the  same  work  appears  the  prophecy: 
"And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  from  one  new  moon  to 
another,  and  from  one  Sabbath  to  another,  shall  all 
flesh  come  to  worship  before  me,  saith  Jehovah." 

This  remarkable  association  of  the  Sabbath  with  the 
day  of  new  moon  had  been  previously  noticed  by  such 
acute  critics  as  Wellhausen  and  Robertson  Smith,  who 
were  unable  to  offer  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem thus  presented.5  When,  however,  the  cuneiform 
records  disclosed  the  fact  that  the  Babylonian  shabattum 
fell  on  the  fifteenth  (or  fourteenth)  day  of  the  month 
and  referred  to  the  day  of  the  full  moon,  it  became 
clear  that  in  these  Biblical  passages  we  have  another 
survival  of  what  must  have  been  the  primary  meaning  of 
the  Hebrew  term  shabbath.*  As  late,  then,  as  the  eighth 

length  of  a  "Sabbath  Day's  jour-  6  Wellhausen,  Prolegomena?  pp. 

ney"  had  not  been  determined,  for  108  sq.;    Smith,    "Sabbath,"  En- 

from  Shunem  to  Elisha's  abode  on  cyclopedia    Britannic  a,*    xxi,    126. 

Carmel   was    a    distance   of  some  6  This  pregnant  suggestion  was 

thirty     to     forty     kilometres     (R.  first  made  by  H.  Zimmern  in  his 

Kittel,    Die    Biicher    der    Konige,  comments    on    the    discovery    by 

Gottingen,  1900,  p.  200).  T.     G.     Pinches     (Zeitschrift     der 

1  Hosea,  ii,  13  (A.  V.  v.  n).  deutschen    morgenlandischen    Gesell- 

2  Amos,  viii,  4-5.  schaft,    1904,    Ivii,    202    and    n.1). 

3  Isaiah,  i,  13.  The    hypothesis    of    the    original 

4  Ibid.,  Ixvi,  23  ;   compare  Colos-  identity  of  Sabbath  and  full-moon 
sians,  ii,  16.  day  was    subsequently   elaborated 


THE  HEBREW  SABBATH  253 

century  B.C.,  popular  phraseology  retained  a  lingering 
trace  of  the  original  collocation  of  the  new-moon  and 
full-moon  days  as  festival  occasions  characterized 
by  abstinence  from  secular  activities.  How  long- 
lived  were  the  old  ideas  is  further  illustrated  by  the 
provision  in  Ezekiel's  reforming  legislation  that  the 
inner  eastern  gate  of  the  new  Temple  at  Jerusalem 
should  be  shut  during  the  six  working  days,  but  should 
be  opened  on  the  Sabbath  and  on  the  new-moon  day 
for  the  religious  assemblage  of  the  people.1  That  the 
term  shabbdth,  the  designation  of  the  full-moon  day, 
should  have  come  to  be  applied  to  every  seventh  day 
of  the  month  seems  to  be  quite  in  accord  with  both 
Babylonian  and  Hebrew  usage,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  led  the  month  itself  to  be  called  after  the  new- 
moon  day.2 

The  Hebrew  seven-day  week,  ending  with  the  Sab- 
bath, presented  so  obvious  a  resemblance  to  the  Baby- 
lonian septenary  period,  which  closed  with  an  "evil 
day,"  that  scholars  have  felt  themselves  compelled 
to  seek  its  origin  in  Babylonia.  The  two  institutions, 
nevertheless,  show  important  differences.  The  Baby- 
lonian cycle,  as  far  as  we  know,  was  never  employed 
as  a  chronological  unit ;  the  Hebrew  week  was  a  true 
civil  week,  a  definite  and  well-understood  period  of 
time.  The  Babylonian  cycle  seems  not  to  have  been 
dissociated  from  the  lunation ; 3  the  Hebrew  week  was 
a  periodic  week,  running  unfettered  from  month  to 

by  J.  Meinhold  (Sabbat  und  Woche  Traditions,   New   York,   1914,  pp. 

im    Alten     Testament,    Gottingen,  154  sqq.,  185. 

1905),     whose     main     conclusions  l  Ezekiel,  xlvi,  1-3. 

have  been  accepted  by    K.  Marti  2  Above,    pp.    226,    247.     Shab- 

(Religion    of    the    Old    Testament,  bath  also  appears  several  times  in 

London,    1907,    pp.    150    sq.}    and  the  Old  Testament  in  the  general 

T.     K.    Cheyne     (Traditions    and  sense  of  "week/*  the  name  of  the 

Beliefs  of  Ancient  Israel,   London,  principal  weekday  being  used  as  the 

1907,  p.  69).     See  also  E.  Mahler,  designation  of  the  entire  cycle  of 

"  Der      Sabbat,"      Zeitschrift     der  seven    days.     Compare    Leviticus, 

deutschen    morgenldndischen  Gesell-  xxiii,  15,  xxv,  8. 

schaft,   1908,  Ixii,  40,  46  sq.;    M.  3  H.  Zimmern,  in  E.  Schrader, 

Jastrow,    Hebrew    and    Baylonian  Keilinschriften?  p.   594;    compare 


254  REST  DAYS 

month  and  from  year  to  year.  The  Babylonian  "evil 
day"  was  an  unnamed  unlucky  day,  observed  by  the 
king,  by  priests,  and  by  physicians,  but  not  certainly 
by  the  people  at  large;  the  Hebrew  Sabbath  was  a 
named  holy  day,  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  na- 
tional god  and  kept  by  the  entire  community  as  a 
festival.  These  real  divergencies  make  it  certain  that 
the  Hebrew  week  and  Sabbath,  in  the  form  in  which 
we  know  them,  could  not  have  been  taken  over  without 
change  from  Babylonia.  The  celebration  of  new- 
moon  and  full-moon  festivals,  which  both  Babylonians 
and  Hebrews  appear  to  have  derived  from  a  common 
Semitic  antiquity,  underwent,  in  fact,  a  radically  un- 
like evolution  among  the  two  kindred  peoples.  To 
dissever  the  week  from  the  lunar  month,  to  employ 
it  as  a  recognized  calendrical  unit,  and  to  fix  upon  one 
day  of  that  week  for  the  exercises  of  religion  were 
momentous  innovations,  which,  until  evidence  to  the 
contrary  is  found,  must  be  attributed  to  the  Hebrew 
people  alone. 

In  his  able  treatise  Meinhold  has  argued  that  until 
the  age  of  Ezekiel  the  Hebrews  employed  no  weeks  at 
all.  He  then  supposes  that  continuous  seven-day 
weeks  were  introduced,  largely  through  Ezekiel's 
reforming  influence,  and  hence  that  the  Sabbath  as  the 
last  day  of  the  periodic  week  was  a  post-Exilic  insti- 
tution.1 Critics  have  pointed  out  that  it  is  highly 
improbable  that  so  far-reaching  a  change  should  have 
occurred  without  being  recorded ;  moreover,  that  the 
acceptance  of  such  a  hypothesis  makes  it  necessary 
to  assume  that  all  places  in  the  Old  Testament  where 
the  Sabbath  is  mentioned  as  the  seventh  day  are  either 
of  Ezekiel's  time  or  later.  But  the  problem  is  simpli- 
fied if  we  hold  that  the  Hebrews  employed  lunar 
seven-day  weeks,  perhaps  for  several  centuries  preced- 

A.  H.  McNeile,77^  Book  of  Exodus,  1905,  pp.  10  sqq.;    compare  idem, 

London,  1908,  p.  122.  "Die    Entstehung    des    Sabbats," 

1  Johannes  Meinhold,  Sabbat  und  Zeitschrift  fur  die  alttestamentliche 

Woche  im  Alien  Testament,  Gottingen,  Wissenschaft,  1909,  xxix,  81-112. 


THE  HEBREW   SABBATH  255 

ing  the  Exile ;  weeks,  that  is,  which  ended  with  special 
observances  on  the  seventh  day  but  none  the  less  were 
tied  to  the  moon's  course.  The  change  from  such 
cycles  to  those  unconnected  with  the  lunation  would 
not  have  involved  so  abrupt  and  sudden  a  departure 
from  the  previous  system  of  time  reckoning  as  that 
from  a  bipartite  division  of  the  lunar  month  to  a  week 
which  ran  continuously  through  the  months  and  the 
years.1 

The  establishment  of  a  periodic  week  ending  in  a 
Sabbath  observed  every  seventh  day  was  doubtless 
responsible  for  the  gradual  obsolescence  of  the  new- 
moon  festival  as  a  period  of  general  abstinence,  since 
with  continuous  weeks  the  new-moon  day  and  the  Sab- 
bath Day  would  from  time  to  time  coincide.  This 
seems  to  be  a  more  natural  explanation  than  that  which 
regards  the  complete  ignoring  of  the  new-moon  festival 
in  the  "Book  of  the  Covenant"  and  in  the  Deutero- 
nomic  legislation  as  a  deliberate  act,  designed  to  wean 
the  people  away  from  an  observance  to  which  hea- 
thenish superstitions  were  attached.  The  day  of  new 
moon  never  lost,  indeed,  its  significance  in  Jewish 
ritual,  for,  when  all  the  great  festivals  were  definitely 
fixed  to  certain  days,  the  new  moon,  as  marking  the 
beginning  of  the  month,  continued  to  hold  a  leading 
place  in  the  sacred  calendar.  The  Priestly  Code  pre- 
scribed special  offerings  for  the  new-moon  day,  and  in 
Ezekiel's  legislation  the  sacrifices  marking  it  exceeded 
in  importance  those  for  the  Sabbath.2  The  ancient 
character  of  this  festival  as  a  season  of  compulsory 
abstinence  from  labour  survived  in  its  observance  as  a 

lThe  march   of  the   Israelitish  But  this   account  may   contain   a 

host  around  Jericho  on  seven  sue-  reminiscence  of  a  period  of  Hebrew 

cessive   days,  one   of  which    must  history  when  the  week,  either  lunar 

have    been    the    Sabbath,    if  that  or  periodic,  had  not  become  estab- 

institution   as   a   weekly   rest  day  lished  in  Israel, 

was  then   known   to  them,  would  2  Numbers,  xxviii,   11-15;    Eze- 

have    been    a    profanation    of  the  kiel,  xlvi,  4-6 ;    compare  I  Chron- 

Sabbath  according  to  later  ideas.  ides,  xxiii,  31;    2  Chronicles,  ii,  4, 

See  Joshua,  vi,  4,  14-15;    compare  viii,    13,    xxxi,    3;     Ezra,    iii,    5; 

Tertullian,     Adversus    Judeeos,    4.  Nehemiah,  x,  33. 


256  REST  DAYS 

rest  day  by  Jewish  women,  perhaps  also  in  the  provision 
of  the  law  of  Leviticus  that  the  first  day  of  the  seventh 
month,  beginning  the  new  year,  should  be  a  "solemn 
rest,"  "a  memorial  of  blowing  of  trumpets,  a  holy 
convocation."  * 

The  Sabbath  is  described  in  the  Pentateuchal  codes 
as  an  agricultural  institution.  It  appears  there  as 
a  day  of  rest  from  farm  labour,  to  be  observed  not 
only  by  the  householder  and  his  family,  but  also  by  the 
slaves,  the  cattle,  and  the  stranger  within  the  gates. 
In  what  is  generally  considered  the  earlier  form  of  the 
Decalogue  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath  is  prescribed, 
"that  thy  man-servant  and  thy  maid-servant  may  rest 
as  well  as  thou";  or,  as  expressed  in  another  passage, 
"that  thine  ox  and  thine  ass  may  have  rest,  and  the  son 
of  thine  handmaid,  and  the  sojourner  may  be  re- 
freshed." 2  From  this  commandment  one  might  draw 
the  conclusion  that  in  pre-Exilic  times  the  Sabbath 
enjoyed  a  purely  humanitarian  character  as  a  season 
of  repose  for  man  and  beast.  The  omission  of  any 
similar  statement  in  the  later  form  of  the  Decalogue, 
where  the  prohibition  of  Sabbath  labour  is  based 
solely  upon  Jehovah's  rest  on  the  seventh  day,3  would 
then  be  explained  as  the  outcome  of  the  priestly  desire 
to  exalt  the  Sabbath  as  a  religious  festival  at  the  ex- 
pense of  its  more  humane  and  social  aspects.  The 
further  requirement  that  even  in  the  busiest  seasons 
of  the  year  no  plea  of  necessity  might  be  accepted  in 
mitigation  of  the  strict  rule  of  Sabbath  observance  — 
"in  ploughing  time  and  in  harvest  thou  shalt  rest"  4  — 
also  would  be  taken  as  evidence  of  the  growing  rigour 
of  ecclesiastical  ordinances. 

Properly  considered,  however,  this  priestly  attitude 
toward  the  Sabbath  was  not  a  radical  departure  but 
rather  an  intensification  of  the  austere  significance 
attached  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  new-moon  and 

1  Leviticus,   xxiii,    24;     compare  2  Deuteronomy,  \,   14;    Exodus, 

Numbers,  xxix,  i;    Nehemiah,  viii,       xxiii,  12.  3  Exodus,  xx,  8-1 1. 

2,  9-12.  But  see  above,  p.  82.  4  Ibid.,  xxxiv,  21. 


THE   HEBREW   SABBATH 


257 


full-moon  days.  The  Pentateuchal  codes  contain,  in 
fact,  a  number  of  Sabbatarian  regulations  which  are 
meaningless,  except  when  elucidated  from  the  com- 
parative standpoint  as  taboos.  The  rule  requiring 
every  one  to  remain  indoors  on  the  Sabbath  :  "Abide 
ye  every  man  in  his  place,  let  no  man  go  out  of  his 
place  on  the  seventh  day,"  1  is  identical  with  the  nu- 
merous rules  which  impose  seclusion  on  tabooed  or  un- 
lucky occasions,  as  a  means  of  avoiding  physical  con- 
tact with  supernatural  and  invisible  powers  of  evil. 

The  prohibition  :  "Ye  shall  kindle  no  fire  throughout 
your  habitations  upon  the  Sabbath  Day, "  2  which  in 
another  passage  3  is  amplified  into  the  rule  requiring 
all  cooking  to  be  done  on  the  preceding  day,  may  be 
first  compared  with  the  taboos  observed  by  "the  shep- 
herd of  great  peoples"  in  Babylonia.  On  four  "evil 
days"  he  was  not  to  eat  roasted  meat  or  baked  bread, 
and  on  the  nineteenth  day  he  might  eat  nothing  which 


1  Exodus,  xvi,  29.  On  this  text 
Dositheus,  the  founder  of  an 
ascetic  Samaritan  sect,  is  said  to 
have  based  the  requirement  that, 
in  whatever  habit,  place,  or  posture 
the  Sabbath  found  a  man,  in  this 
he  was  to  continue  till  the  close  of 
the  sacred  festival ;  if  he  was  found 
sitting,  he  must  sit  still  all  the  day, 
or,  if  reclining,  he  must  lie  down  ail 
the  day  (Origen,  De  principles,  iv, 
I,  17).  S.  Reinach  wittily  com- 
pares the  Dosithean  injunction 
to  the  practice  of  various  animals, 
which,  when  in  danger  and  unable 
to  flee,  fait  le  mort  ("Le  sabbat 
hebrai'que,"  Cultes,  mythes,  et  reli- 
gions, Paris,  1906-1912,  ii,  444). 
For  some  mediaeval  stories  illus- 
trating the  rule  of  absolute  repose 
on  the  Sabbath,  see  R.  Basset, 
"L'observation  du  sabbat,"  Revue 
des  traditions  populaires,  1893,  viii, 
250-254.  2  Exodus,  xxxv,  3. 

3  Ibid.,  xvi,  23.  The  rules  for- 
bidding the  lighting  of  fires  and 
cooking  on  the  Sabbath  were  very 


strictly  observed  by  the  Essenes 
(Josephus,  Bellum  Judaicum,  ii,  8). 
In  the  Mishna  (Shabbdth,  iv,  i) 
the  prohibition  to  bake  and  boil 
on  the  Sabbath  is  interpreted  to 
mean  that  food  may  be  kept  hot 
on  the  Sabbath,  provided  its  exist- 
ing heat  is  not  increased,  which 
would  be  "boiling."  Hence  the 
food  must  be  put  only  into  such 
substances  as  would  maintain  but 
not  increase  the  heat.  The  pro- 
hibition to  kindle  a  fire  on  the 
Sabbath  was  naturally  extended  to 
one  of  extinguishing  a  fire,  as  well  as 
lights  and  lamps  (ibid.,  xvi,  6).  In 
mediaeval  times  Rabbi  Solomon 
ben  Adret  had  a  lock  affixed  to  his 
stove,  and  kept  the  key  over  the 
Sabbath  to  prevent  his  too-con- 
siderate housemaid  from  lighting 
a  fire  on  Saturdays  (I.  Abrahams, 
Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
London,  1896,  p.  83).  On  the 
modern  Jewish  custom  of  kindling 
lights  at  the  arrival  and  departure 
of  the  Sabbath  see  M.  Friedmann, 


258  REST  DAYS 

had  been  touched  by  fire.1  In  a  remarkable  calendar 
of  the  unlucky  days  observed  by  the  Egyptians  we 
find  an  extensive  series  of  regulations  regarding  the 
use  of  fire.  On  the  fifth  of  the  month  of  Athyr,  fire 
might  not  be  looked  at  and,  if  it  went  out,  it  might  not 
be  rekindled.  On  the  eleventh  of  Tybi  no  one  might 
approach  a  fire-place,  for,  said  the  scribe,  on  that  day 
the  god  Ra  had  once  burst  into  flame  to  devour  his 
enemies,  and  the  effects  of  his  metamorphosis  were 
felt  on  every  anniversary  of  the  day.  These  taboos, 
which  reach  back  into  a  remote  period  of  Egyptian 
history,  are  still  found  among  the  peasants  of  Thebes 
and  the  Said,  who,  on  certain  days  of  the  year,  refuse 
to  kindle  a  fire,  and  on  others  avoid  approaching  the 
flame,  even  of  a  candle  or  a  lamp,  and  the  most  timid 
do  not  smoke.2  In  Hawaii,  as  we  have  seen,  during 
the  four  tabu  seasons  in  each  lunar  month,  "every  fire 
and  light  was  extinguished."  The  same  regulation  is 
attached  to  periods  of  abstinence  elsewhere  in  the 
aboriginal  world.3 

Some  of  these  taboos  relating  to  fire  may  reflect 
primitive  man's  fear  of  a  mysterious  element  which 
had  not  yet  been  completely  tamed  and  harnessed  to 
human  use;  but  the  fact  that  among  various  peoples 
all  fires  are  put  out  after  a  death  indicates  a  more  prob- 
able origin  of  the  prohibition  in  the  fear  of  attracting 
evil  spirits  or  influences.  In  Morocco,  when  a  person 
has  died  in  the  morning,  "no  fire  is  made  in  the  whole 
village  until  he  is  buried,  and  in  some  parts  of  the 
country  the  inmates  of  a  house  or  tent  where  a  death 
has  occurred,  abstain  from  making  fire  for  two  or  three 
days."  Similar  customs  are  found  in  Polynesia, 
Borneo,  the  East  Indies,  Burma,  and  various  parts  of 

"The  Sabbath  Light,"  Jewish  Quar-  on  Ancient  Egypt?  London,  1909, 

terly  Review,  1891,  iii,  707-721.  pp.  130  sq. 

1  Above,  p.  232  and  n.z  3  Above,    pp.  9,   12,  15,  16,  20, 

2  F.  J.  Chabas,  Le  calendrier  des  41,  etc. 

jours  fastes  et   nefastes   de   I'annee  4  E.    Westermarck,    Origin    and 

egyptienne,  Chalon-s.-S.,  1870,  pp.  Development  of  the  Moral  Ideas,  ii, 
46,  68;  Sir  G.  Maspero,  New  Light  305. 


THE   HEBREW   SABBATH  259 

Africa ;  they  were  practised  by  Persians  and  Greeks 
in  antiquity ;  and  they  still  survive  among  the  peasants 
of  Calabria  and  the  Scottish  Highlanders.1  It  is  hardly 
possible  to  urge  that  the  putting-out  of  fires  on  such 
occasions  is  always  a  necessary  result  of  the  widespread 
custom  of  fasting  after  a  death  and  until  the  corpse  is 
buried ;  as  a  matter  of  fact  we  find  that  fires  may  be 
extinguished  when  there  is  no  fasting,  and  also  that  the 
fast  is  often  restricted  to  the  daytime,  when  evil  spirits, 
and  in  particular  the  ghost  of  the  dead  man,  are  pre- 
sumed to  be  unable  to  see. 

But,  as  Professor  Westermarck  has  so  ably  shown, 
the  widespread  custom  of  fasting  is  itself  often  to  be 
explained  as  due  to  the  desire  to  prevent  pollution.2 
Under  certain  circumstances  to  partake  of  food  may 
cause  defilement ;  hence  fasting  is  only  one  of  the  nu- 
merous precautions  necessary  to  avoid  contamination. 
These  ideas  find  expression  in  the  rules  which,  like 
those  prescribing  the  cessation  of  labour  after  a  death, 
require  mourners  to  abstain  from  eating  food  infected 
with  the  death  pollution.  Fasting  may  also  be  en- 
joined on  other  critical  occasions,  such  as  an  eclipse 
of  the  sun  or  the  moon,  or  during  a  thunderstorm ;  and 
we  have  seen  that  it  characterizes  some  of  the  tabooed 
days  previously  considered.3  Such  well-established 
facts  suggest  that  in  the  earliest  period  fasting  may  have 
also  marked  the  Hebrew  Sabbath.4  This  hypothesis 
seems  first  to  have  been  advanced  by  the  "judicious" 
Hooker,  who  observes  that  "it  may  be  a  question, 
whether  in  some  sort  they  [the  Jews]  did  not  al- 

1  For  a  collection  of  the  ethno-  ings's  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and 

graphic    evidence,    see    Sir    J.    G.  Ethics,  iv,  439. 

Frazer,   "On  Certain   Burial  Cus-  2  E.  Westermarck,   "The   Prin- 

toms  as  Illustrative  of  the  Primitive  ciples  of  Fasting/*  Folk-lore,  1908, 

Theory  of  the  Soul,"  Journal  of  the  xviii,  397  sqq.;   idem,  Moral  Ideas, 

Anthropological  Institute,  1885,  xv,  ii,  293  sqq. 

90;    idem,   The  Magic  Art  and  the  3  Above,  pp.  15,  17,  39,  44,  etc. 

Evolution  of  Kings,  London,  1911,  4  Compare  M.  Jastrow,  in  Amer-> 

ii,  267  n.4;   E.  S.  Hartland, "  Death  ican  Journal  of  Theology,  1898,  ii, 

and  Disposal  of  the  Dead  (Intro-  324   sqq.;    Westermarck,    op.    cit., 

ductory     and     Primitive),"  Hast-  ii,  310  sq. 


260  REST  DAYS 

ways  fast  on  the  Sabbath."  1  He  instances  a  statement 
of  Josephus  that  the  sixth  hour  or  noon  was  the  time 
when  "our  laws  require  us  to  go  to  dinner  on  Sabbath- 
days."  2  Various  pagan  writers  also  refer  to  the  Sab- 
bath as  a  day  of  fasting.3  Such  a  notion  may  have 
arisen  from  a  misunderstanding  of  the  Biblical  rule 
forbidding  cooking  on  the  Sabbath,  or,  perhaps,  from 
a  confusion  of  this  festival  with  the  great  fast  on  the 
Day  of  Atonement,  which  was  a  shabbdth  shabbdthon, 
a  "Sabbath  of  solemn  rest."4  Yet  it  seems  difficult 
to  understand  the  rule  forbidding  fasting  at  new  moon 
and  on  the  seventh  day,5  except  as  a  reference  to  a 
custom  formerly  observed  but  in  later  times  regarded 
as  an  illegitimate  rite.  Since  the  Sabbath  fell,  orig- 
inally, at  the  middle  of  the  month,  it  may  be  that  the 
new-moon  and  full-moon  days  were  once  marked  by 
both  cessation  of  labour  and  abstinence  from  food. 
The  foregoing  pages  have  supplied  too  many  instances 
of  the  transformation  of  fasts  into  feasts  for  such  an 
explanation  to  be  dismissed  as  an  idle  conjecture.6 

When  the  notion  of  a  weekly  Sabbath  was  extended, 
after  the  Captivity,  to  the  Sabbatical  Year,  the  seventh 
year  was  to  be  a  "Sabbath  of  solemn  rest"  (shabbdth 
shabbdthon)  for  the  land,  not  because  of  the  advan- 
tage of  allowing  soil  to  lie  fallow  at  regular  intervals, 
but  because  the  land  itself  was  consecrated  as  "a 
Sabbath  unto  Jehovah."  7  The  regulation  does  not 

1  Ecclesiastical  Polity ,  v,  72.  superstitions  attached  to  the  after- 

2  DC  vita  sua,  54.  noon  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  dangerous 

3  Suetonius,  Divus  Augustus,  76;  time  for  the  consumption  of  food. 
Strabo,    Geographica,    xvi,    2,    40;  During    the    early    Middle    Ages 
Martial,      Epigrammata,     iv,      4;  Jews  in  northern  France,  Lorraine, 
Justin,  xxxvi,  2.     Justin  speaks  of  and  Germany,  but  not  in  Provence, 
the  Sabbath  as  having  been  conse-  Narbonne,  or  Spain,  refrained  from 
crated  as  a  fast  day  to  commemo-  eating   and    drinking   on    Sabbath 
rate    a    seven    days*    fast   of  the  afternoons.     See     D.     Kaufmann, 
Israelites  in  the  deserts  of  Arabia.  "Was  the  Custom  of  Fasting  on 

4  Above,  pp.  8 1  sqq.  Sabbath    Afternoon    Part    of    the 

5  Judith,     viii,     6;      Schulchan  Early       Anglo-Jewish       Ritual?" 
Aruch,  i,  91  sq.  Jewish  Quarterly  Review,  1894,  vi, 

6  The    Talmud    (Tractate   Pesa-  754-756. 

chim,    105  a)    indicates  that  some  7  Leviticus,    xxv,    4.     This    law 


THE  HEBREW  SABBATH  261 

imply  that,  as  a  consequence  of  a  fallow  year,  the 
land  will  produce  better  harvests  on  the  succeeding 
year.  It  is  expressly  said  that  the  year  before  the 
Sabbatical  Year  is  the  one  to  be  conspicuous  for  its  fruit- 
fulness  :  "Then  I  will  command  my  blessing  upon 
you  in  the  sixth  year,  and  it  shall  bring  forth  fruit  for 
the  three  years."  1  The  rule  requiring  that  the  produce 
of  the  soil  should  be  devoted  to  the  poor  and  to  the 
cattle 2  perhaps  indicates  a  partial  triumph  of  the  utili- 
tarian spirit.  During  the  Jubilee,  at  the  end  of  seven 
times  seven  years,  "  Ye  shall  not  sow,  neither  reap  that 
which  groweth  of  itself  in  it,  nor  gather  the  grapes  in  it 
of  the  undressed  vines,"  3  a  regulation  which  can  be  ex- 
plained only  as  the  outcome  of  the  Sabbatarian  observ- 
ances attached  to  the  seventh  day  and  the  seventh  year. 
In  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  west  Africa  any  one 
who  broke  a  Sabbatarian  taboo  suffered  death.  Among 
the  early  Israelites  the  Sabbath-breaker  was  threatened 
with  a  similar  penalty:  "Every  one  that  profaneth  it 
shall  surely  be  put  to  death ;  for  whosoever  doeth  any 
work  therein,  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  his 
people."  4  We  are  not  informed  how  frequently  this 
stern  ordinance  was  enforced ;  the  case  of  the  wood- 
gatherer  on  the  Sabbath,  who,  by  direction  of  Moses, 
acting  on  a  direct  revelation  from  Jehovah,  was  stoned 
to  death  outside  the  camp,  is  the  only  instance  of  capital 
punishment  for  Sabbath  desecration  which  has  found 
its  way  into  the  Scriptures  as  we  now  have  them.5 

was     occasionally     productive     of  twenty-fifth    chapter    of   Leviticus 

great    distress    (i    Maccabees,    vi,  combines    two    systems    of    rules 

48,  53 ;    compare  Josephus,  Anti-  which   are  not  only   different  but 

quitates  Judaica,  xiv,  16,  2).  actually    irreconcilable    with    each 

1  Leviticus,  xxv,  21.  other,  the  septennial  system  of  the 

2  Exodus,  xxiii,  1 1 .  Sabbatical    Year    and  the  Jubilee 

3  Leviticus,    xxv,    n.     Whether  system  of  fifty  years. 

the   Jubilee   was    celebrated    after  4  Exodus,  xxxi, ,14;   for  a  similar 

forty-eight    years    or    after    forty-  regulation  see  ibid.,  xxxv,  2. 
nine  years  is  a  problem  incapable  5  Numbers,      xv,      32-36.     The 

of  solution  from  the  Old  Testament  comments  of  Philo  Judaeus  on  this 

evidence.     As  Schiaparelli  has  well  passage     are     interesting,     if    not 

shown     (Astronomy     in     the     Old  illuminating   (Vita  Mosis,  iii,   27- 

Testament,     pp.      146     sqq.),     the  28). 


262  REST  DAYS 

The  instance  is  an  instructive  one,  as  revealing  the 
strong  sense  of  group-welfare  and  hatred  of  the  non- 
conformist, characteristic  of  a  religion  which  had 
not  yet  outrun  clan  and  tribal  limitations. 

The  Old  Testament  affords  evidence  that  the  He- 
brews kept  the  Sabbath  with  varying  degrees  of  rigour 
in  different  places  and  at  different  times.  Under  the 
later  prophets  a  movement  appears  to  have  begun 
toward  a  stricter  observance  of  the  day,  as  is  seen  in 
the  effort  of  Jeremiah  to  prevent  burden-bearing  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  in  EzekiePs  constant  insistence  on 
the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath  in  his  catalogue  of  the 
sins  of  the  Israelites.1  But  more  than  a  century  after 
these  prophets,  in  the  age  of  Nehemiah,  the  people  of 
Judea  made  wine  and  gathered  the  harvest  on  the 
Sabbath.  All  manner  of  burdens  were  brought  into 
Jerusalem  on  that  day,  and  the  inhabitants  bought 
and  sold  with  the  men  of  Tyre.2  These  practices 
indicate  that  the  Sabbath  bade  fair  to  become  a  social 
institution,  divorced  from  supernatural  sanctions. 

It  is  doubtless  true  that  the  Exile  tended  to  aug- 
ment the  religious  importance  of  the  Sabbath,  since 
even  in  heathen  lands  it  could  be  observed  by  a  people 
who  now  had  neither  state  nor  temple.  In  the  Exilic 
literature  great  significance  is  ascribed  to  the  Sabbath,3 
and  in  post-Exilic  law  it  is  regarded  as  a  sign  between 
Jehovah  and  the  children  of  Israel  that  Jehovah  is 
their  God.  It  is  impossible,  however,  to  follow  those 
critics  who  assume  that  the  rigour  of  the  Sabbatarian  ob- 
servances after  the  Exile  forms  an  entirely  new  develop- 
ment, and  that  the  priestly  Sabbath  represents  some- 
thing very  different  from  the  Sabbath  of  the  "  Book  of 
the  Covenant"  or  of  Deuteronomy.4"  The  increased 

1  Jeremiah,  xvii,  19-27;  Ezekiel,  3  Isaiah,  Ivi,  2  sq.,  Iviii,  13. 

xx,  13, 16,  21,  24,  xxii,  8,  26,  xxiii,  38.  4  T.  K.  Cheyne,  Jewish  Religious 

*  Nehemiah,   x,   31,   xiii,    15-16.  Life  after  the  Exile,  New  York,  1898, 

The  use  of  the  Sabbath  Day  for  p.  66;    C.  G.  Montefiore,  Lectures 

marketing    is     paralleled     by    the  on  the  Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion 

Mohammedan  observance  of  jum'a  as  Illustrated  by  the  Religion  of  the 

(above,  p.  206).  Ancient    Hebrews?    London,    1893, 


THE  HEBREW  SABBATH  263 

significance  of  the  institution  led  naturally  to  a  revival 
of  the  old  taboos  with  which  the  day  had  been  always 
invested,  taboos  which  otherwise  might  have  been 
expected  to  disappear  with  advancing  culture  and  the 
decay  of  supernaturalism.  Closer  contact  with  Assyria 
and  Babylonia,  from  the  eighth  to  the  sixth  century 
B.C.,  also  may  have  helped  to  revitalize  the  older  super- 
stitions and  to  give  to  the  Sabbath  once  more  an  aus- 
tere character.1  The  day,  in  fact,  seems  never  wholly 
to  have  lost  all  traces  of  its  severe  and  sombre  origin 
in  a  period  of  taboo ;  it  is  significant  in  this  connec- 
tion that,  while  the  Hebrews  had  their  favourable 
and  unfavourable  days,  as  the  expression  yom  tob 
("good  day")  for  holy  days  shows,  the  Sabbath  is 
never  so  described.2 

The  later  history  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  tabu  day 
culminates  in  the  exaggerations  of  pharisaic  Judaism 
and  the  extraordinary  micrology  of  the  rabbinical 
enactments.3  The  Mishna  enumerates  no  less  than 
thirty-nine  principal  classes  of  prohibited  actions. 
Some  of  these  are  regarded  as  belonging  to  as  ancient 
a  period  as  any  of  the  taboos  found  in  the  Old  Testa- 

pp.  229  sq.,  338  sq.;    Wellhausen,  8th  century  A.D.  the  rabbis  them- 

Prolegomena,*     p.     no;      W.     R.  selves  were  unable  to  account  for  it 

Smith,    "Sabbath,"    Encyclopedia  (Abrahams,  op.  cit.,  p.   184).     By 

Britannic  a?  xxi,   124;     K.   Marti,  the  Romans  May  was  considered 

Das    Dodekapropheton,    Tubingen,  an  unlucky  month  for  marriage,  a 

1904,  p.  26.  belief  which  Ovid  (Fasti,  v,  489- 

1  Compare  E.  G.  Hirsch,  "Sab-  490)  connects  with  the  celebration 
bath,"  in  Jewish  Encyclopedia,  x,  of  the  Lemuria  in  May.     Compare 
590;    Bohn,  Der  Sabbat  im  Alien  Plutarch,  Quastionts  Romantz,  86. 
Testament,  pp.  8  sqq.,  89  sqq.  The  superstition,  as  is  well  known, 

2  M.  Jastrow,  in  American  Jour-  has  descended  to  our  own  time. 
nal  of  Theology,  1898,  ii,  324  n*7  3  The  principal  regulations  in  the 
idem,  Hebrew  and  Babylonian  Tra-  Mishna    are   well    summarized  by 
ditions,  p.    162.     The    Old   Testa-  E.  Schiirer,  History  of  the  Jewish 
ment  contains  at  least  one  reference  People  in  the  Time  of  Christ,  div.  ii, 
to  a  lucky  day  (i  Samuel,  xxv,  8).  vol.  ii,  96-105.     For  the  rigorous 
Among  modern  Jews  no  marriages  rules  observed  by  the  Covenanters 
are   celebrated   during   the   period  of  Damascus,  a  Jewish  sect  whose 
between   Passover   and    Pentecost.  history   has   been   only   lately    re- 
The  origin  of  the   superstition   is  covered,  see  G.  F.  Moore,  in  Har- 
unknown,  but  its  antiquity  may  be  vard   Theological  Review,   1911,  iv, 
judged  from  the  fact   that  in  the  346  sq. 


264  REST  DAYS 

ment ;  the  majority,  however,  represent  only  an  elabo- 
ration of  the  scriptural  precepts.  Two  entire  works 
are  devoted  to  the  provisions  for  Sabbath  observance. 
The  first  treatise,  called  Shabbdth,  is  chiefly  remark- 
able as  an  illustration  of  the  subtle  refinements  and 
distinctions  of  which  the  rabbis  were  capable.  Thus, 
the  prohibitions  to  tie  or  untie  a  knot  being  regarded 
as  too  general,  it  was  necessary  to  define  the  species 
of  knot  referred  to.  A  camel-driver's  knot  and  a  boat- 
man's knot  rendered  the  man  who  tied  or  untied  them 
a  Sabbath-breaker;  but  Rabbi  Meir  said,  "A  knot 
which  a  man  can  untie  with  one  hand  only,  he  does 
not  become  guilty  by  untying."  Rabbi  Jehudah, 
still  more  liberal  of  mind,  laid  down  the  rule  that  any 
knot  which  was  not  intended  to  be  permanent  might 
be  lawfully  tied.  The  second  treatise,  Erubim,  was 
intended  to  alleviate  the  extreme  rigour  of  some  of  the 
enactments  in  the  former  work.  Thus,  the  limits  of 
a  "Sabbath  Day's  journey"  having  been  fixed  at  two 
thousand  cubits,  the  rabbis  conceded  that  one  who 
before  the  Sabbath  had  desposited  food  for  two  meals 
at  the  boundary  thereby  removed  his  habitation  from 
the  town  and  made  that  place  his  new  domicile.  When 
the  Sabbath  came,  he  was  at  liberty  to  proceed  two 
thousand  cubits  beyond  it,  though  he  lost  the  right 
to  walk  the  same  distance  in  the  opposite  direction. 
As  is  well  known,  literal  obedience  of  the  Sabbath 
regulations  was  sometimes  carried  to  such  an  extreme 
as  to  prove  a  source  of  great  hardship,  danger,  and 
even  death  to  its  devotees.1 

These  legal  fictions,  these  casuistical  elaborations 
of  the  simple  ordinances  of  the  Pentateuch  concerning 
the  Sabbath,  may  be  paralleled  by  the  growth  of  pon- 
tifical regulations  at  Rome  relating  to  what  might  and 

1 1    Maccabees,    ii,    3 1    sqq. ;     2  selves  masters  of  their  walls,  and 

Maccabees,  v,  25-26,  vi,  n,  viii,  26;  "so  lay  still  until  they  were  caught 

Josephus,  Antiquitates  Judaicce,  xii,  like  so  many  trout  in  the  dragnet  of 

62.     Plutarch    refers   to   the   Jews  their  own  superstition "  (De  super- 

who  allowed  their  enemies  to  rear  stitione,  8). 
scaling    ladders    and    make    them- 


THE  HEBREW  SABBATH  265 

what  might  not  be  done  on  public  ferial  days.1  Like 
the  Roman  ferice,  also,  the  Hebrew  Sabbath  affords 
an  instance  of  what  seems  to  be  a  very  general,  perhaps 
universal,  tendency  of  the  human  mind  to  dwell  with 
special  emphasis  on  the  festive  aspects  of  a  holy  sea- 
son, and  by  some  subtle  alchemy  of  the  spirit  to  con- 
vert what  was  once  a  day  of  gloom  and  anxiety  into 
a  day  of  gladness  and  good  cheer.  The  post-Exilic 
prophet,  the  so-called  second  Isaiah,  when  he  urges 
his  people  to  "call  the  Sabbath  a  delight"2  presents 
it,  indeed,  as  a  festival  "holy  to  Jehovah,"  but  capable, 
nevertheless,  of  contributing  to  man's  physical  and 
mental  refreshment.  And  in  later  Judaism  the  strict 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  rest  did  not  by  any  means 
preclude  abstinence  from  bodily  pleasures.  Fasting, 
as  we  have  seen,  was  forbidden  on  that  day;  three 
substantial  meals  were  to  be  "enjoyed,"  so  Jewish 
theologians  declared ;  and  the  New  Testament  itself 
contains  evidence  that  Pharisees  of  the  strictest  type 
gave  sumptuous  entertainments  on  the  Sabbath.3 
In  fact,  various  Christian  Fathers  were  persuaded  that 
the  Jews  observed  the  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  violent 
excess,  and  converts  to  Christianity  were  cautioned 
against  applying  to  the  Lord's  Day  the  luxus  sab- 
batarius.  "The  Jews  in  our  time,"  says  St.  Augus- 
tine, "observe  their  Sabbath  by  a  kind  of  bodily  rest, 
languid  and  luxurious.  They  abstain  from  labour 
and  give  themselves  up  to  trifles,  and,  though  God 
ordained  the  Sabbath,  they  spend  it  in  actions  which 
God  forbids.  Our  rest  is  from  evil  works,  their  rest 
is  from  good  works  ;  for  it  is  better  to  plough  than 
to  dance."  4  We  may  believe  that  such  criticisms 
had  slight  justification  in  the  real  nature  of  the  Jewish 

1  Above,  pp.  97  sq.  others  in  a  similar  strain,  from  St. 

2  Isaiah,  Iviii,  13.  Chryspstom,  Prudentius,  and  Theod- 

3  Luke,  xiv,  1-24.  oret,  is  adduced    by    the    learned 

4  Augustine,  In  comm.  ad  Psalm.  ecclesiastical  historian  Joseph  Bing- 
xcii      (Nicene      and      Post-Nicene  ham    (Antiquities   of  the   Christian 
Fathers    of   the    Christian    Church,  Church,    London,    1838-1840,    vii, 
viii,     453).     This     passage,     with  32  sqq.). 


266  REST  DAYS 

observance,  little  more,  perhaps,  than  Plutarch's  quaint 
notion  that  the  Sabbath  must  bear  some  relation  to 
Dionysus,  for,  said  Plutarch,  when  the  Jews  keep  the 
Sabbath,  they  invite  one  another  to  potations  till  all 
are  drunk.1  It  is  more  satisfying  to  turn  to  hundreds 
of  Jewish  hymns  where  the  Sabbath  is  hailed  "as  a 
day  of  rest  and  joy,  of  pleasure  and  delight,  a  day  in 
which  man  enjoys  some  presentiment  of  the  pure  bliss 
and  happiness  which  are  stored  up  for  the  righteous 
in  the  world  to  come,  and  to  which  such  tender  names 
were  applied  as  the  ' Queen  Sabbath,'  the  'Bride  Sab- 
bath,' and  the  'Holy,  dear,  beloved  Sabbath.'"  2 

The  Jewish  Sabbath  appears  to  have  been  first 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Romans  as  early  as 
the  last  century  of  the  republic,  when  Pompey's  sweep- 
ing campaigns  in  the  East  led  to  the  establishment  of 
Roman  dominion  over  Syria  and  Judea.  References 
to  the  institution  in  Tibullus,  Horace,  and  Ovid  indi- 
cate that  its  peculiar  character  as  a  day  of  rest  was  then 
generally  understood.3  Their  contemporary,  Philo, 
the  Hellenistic  Jew  of  Alexandria,  declared  that  the 
seventh  day  was  the  festival,  not  of  one  city  or  one 
country,  but  of  all  the  earth,  "the  birthday  of  the 
world,"  4  and  Josephus  could  write  that  there  was  no 
city  among  the  Greeks  or  the  barbarians  where  the 
festival  of  the  Sabbath  was  not  celebrated.5  These 
statements,  though  exaggerated,  bear  witness  to  the 
success  of  that  Jewish  propaganda  which,  at  the  very 
time  when  the  preaching  of  Christianity  began,  carried 
this  other  Oriental  faith  throughout  the  ancient  world. 
The  great  commercial  cities  of  the  Mediterranean 

1  Plutarch,  Quastiones  conviviales,  Sabbath   and  the  Festivals  in  the 
iv,  6,  2.  First  Two  Centuries  of  the  Current 

2  S.  Schechter,  in  Jewish  Quar-  Era,  according  to  Philo,  Josephus, 
ttrly  Review,  1891,  iii,  763;    com-  the  New  Testament,  and  the  Rab- 
pare  idem,  Studies  in  Judaism,  New  binic  Sources,"  Jewish  Review,  1914, 
York,     1896,    pp.     244    sqg.,    and  iv,  433-456. 

Israel    Abrahams,    Jewish    Life   in  3  Above,  pp.  244  sq. 

the    Middle    Ages,    London,    1896,  4  De  opificio  mundi,  30;  compare 

pp.    12,   24,   373   sq.      See    further  idem,  Vita  Mosis,  ii,  4. 

J.  Mann,  "The  Observance  of  the  5  Contra  Apionem,  ii,  40. 


THE   HEBREW   SABBATH  267 

became  seats  of  thriving  Jewish  communities  where 
pagan  proselytes  adopted  Jewish  customs,  including 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath.1 

The  Jewish  seven-day  week  with  its  numerical  indi- 
cations of  the  days  was  adopted  by  the  early  Chris- 
tians, to  whom  the  planetary  week,  bearing  the  names 
of  pagan  deities,  could  scarcely  prove  attractive.2 
Friday  and  Saturday  continued  to  have  the  designa- 
tions irapao-Kevij  and  <ra$SaToi/,  respectively,  but  Sun- 
day, which  by  Jewish  custom  was  called  "the  first 
day"  after  the  Sabbath,  eventually  received  the  desig- 
nation rj  KvpiaKrj  ypepai  (dies  dominie  'd)  ,  the  Lord's 
Day.3  The  New  Testament  contains  unambiguous 
evidence  that  from  a  very  early  period  "the  first  day 
of  the  week"  was  observed  by  Christians  as  a  day  of 
assembly  for  the  "breaking  of  bread"  and  perhaps  for 
the  collection  of  free-will  offerings.4  The  author  of 
the  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  toward  the  end  of  the  first 
century,  speaks  of  keeping  the  "eighth  day"  for  rejoic- 
ing, and  justifies  its  observance  as  a  celebration  of  the 
resurrection  of  Christ.5  The  Didache,  or  Teaching  of 
the  Twelve  Apostles,  a  work  which  belongs  to  the  early 
part  of  the  second  century,  enjoins  meetings  "on  the 
Lord's  own  day"  (/cara  KvpiaKyv  Se  Ku/oiW),  for  the 


1  Compare  Juvenal,  Satires,  xiv,  hold  that  the  author  of  the  Apoca- 
105-106     (with     J.     B.     Mayor's  lypse   was    referring    here,    not   to 
commentary);     Tertullian,    Apolo-  Sunday  but  to  the  day  of  Judgment, 
geticus,i6;  idem,  Ad  nationes,  i,  13.  called  elsewhere  ^  ^/xepa  ^  /xeyoAi; 

2  Above,  p.  220.  "the  great  day"  (ibid.,  vi,  17,  xvi, 

3  In    the    New   Testament  such  14). 

phrases  as  ev  8c  /xia  rtov  o-aftftdrwv  4  Acts,  xx,  7;    I  Corinthians,  xvi, 

(Acts,  xx,  7)  and  Kara  /xtav  craft  ftdrov  2  ',   compare  John,  xx,  26. 

(i    Corinthians,    xvi,    2;     compare  6  Epistola    Barnaba,    15;     com- 

Matthew,  xxviii,  i  ;    Mark,  xvi,  2  ;  pare  Justin  Martyr,  Dialogus  cum 

Luke,   xxiv,    i;    John,   xx,    I,    19)  Tryphone,     138;      Tertullian,     De 

refer  to  Sunday  as  "the  first  day  idolatria,    14.     The   "eighth   day" 

of  the  week."     An  equivalent  ex-  might  seem  to  be  a  natural  desig- 

pression,  TT/OWTI;    (ra/3ftdrov,  is  also  nation   for  the   day   following   the 

found  (Mark,  xvi,  9).     The  desig-  Sabbath,  the  seventh  day;    more 

nation   of   Sunday    as    the   Lrd'so  probably,    however,    it    is    to    be 

Day  —  17    Kvpia/oi    i;/w,€pa  —  occurs  explained  by  the  ancient  practice 

in  a  single  New  Testament  passage  of  inclusive  reckoning. 
(Revelation,    i,    10).     Some    critics 


268  REST  DAYS 

breaking  of  bread  and  giving  thanks.1  Eusebius  of  Csesa- 
rea,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  preserves  a  fragment 
of  a  letter  of  Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Corinth  (175  A.D.), 
to  Soter,  Bishop  of  Rome,  in  which  the  former  says, 
"To-day  we  passed  the  Lord's  holy  day,  when  we  read 
your  epistle";  and  the  same  historian  also  mentions 
the  fact  that  Melito,  Bishop  of  Sardis  (170  A.D.),  had 
written  among  other  works  a  treatise  on  the  Lord's 
Day.2  Justin  Martyr,  writing  about  the  middle  of 
the  second  century,  describes  how,  "on  the  day  called 
Sunday"  (777  TOT)  'HXiou  XeyofLO/r/  i^ejpa),  all  town 
and  country  Christians  were  wont  to  assemble  for 
instruction  in  the  holy  writings,  and  for  prayer,  the 
distribution  of  bread  and  wine,  and  the  collection  of 
alms.  The  name  Sunday  commemorates,  according 
to  Justin,  the  first  day  of  creation  and  the  resurrection 
of  Christ  from  the  darkness  of  the  grave.3  Justin's 
use  of  this  nomenclature,  in  a  work  addressed  to  the 
pagans,  witnesses  to  the  spread  of  Oriental  solar  wor- 
ship throughout  the  Roman  Empire,  leading  to  the 
substitution  of  the  day  of  Sun  for  Saturn's  Day,  as 
the  beginning  of  the  planetary  week.  As  we  have 
learned,  the  Christians  themselves  adopted  eventually 
the  pagan  designation  of  the  first  day  of  the  week.4 

1  Didache,    xiv,     I.     The  testi-      part  of  their   religion"    (Apologe- 
mony  of  Pliny  the  Younger  (Epis-      ticus,  16;   compare  Ad  nationes,  i, 
tola,  x,  98)  makes  it  evident  that       13). 

as  early  as  the  year  in  A.D.  the  4  Above,  pp.  220  sq.  On  the 
Christians  of  Asia  Minor  were  early  history  of  the  Christian  Sun- 
accustomed  to  hold  religious  as-  day  see  A.  Barry,  "Lord's  Day," 
semblies  on  a  fixed  day  (stato  Smith  and  Cheetham's  Dictionary 
die),  which  can  hardly  have  been  of  Christian  Antiquities,  'ii,  1042- 
other  than  the  first  day  of  the  1053;  G.  A.  Deissmann,  "Lord's 
week.  Day,"  Encyclopedia  Biblica,  iii, 

2  Eusebius,  Historia  ecclesiastic  a,  coll.      2813-2816;       O.      Zockler, 
iv,  23,  n,   iv,  26,  2.                       .  " Sonntagsfeier,"  Herzog,  Plitt,  and 

3  Apologia    prima,    67.     Tertul-  Hauck's  Realencyklopddie  fur  pro- 
lian,    who    found    it    necessary    to  testantische    Theologie   und  Kirche? 
answer  the  objection   that    Chris-  xviii,    521-529;     T.     Zahn,    "Ge- 
tians  worshipped  the  sun,  declares,  schichte  des  Sonntags  vornehmlich 
"Indeed,  they  made  Sunday  a  day  in   der   alten    Kirche,"    in    Skizzen 
of  joy,  but  for  other  reasons  than  aus   dem   Leben   der   alten   Kirche? 
to  adore  the  sun,   which   was   no  Erlangen,  1898,  pp.  160-208,  351- 


THE  HEBREW  SABBATH  269 

Though  Jesus  regarded  the  Sabbath  as  still  binding 
on  his  followers,  his  teaching  that  it  was  a  social  insti- 
tution designed  for  practical  benefit  to  mankind,  and 
not  as  a  fetish,  brought  him  repeatedly  into  conflict 
with  the  Pharisees,  and  called  forth  those  utterances 
which  have  been  so  strangely  neglected  by  Sabba- 
tarians in  after  ages  :  "  For  the  Son  of  man  is  lord  of 
the  Sabbath" ;  "The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and 
not  man  for  the  Sabbath";  "My  Father  worketh 
[on  it]  even  until  now,  and  I  work."  Jewish  Chris- 
tians appear  at  first  to  have  continued  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath,  but  this  practice  met  the  unqualified 
condemnation  of  St.  Paul ; z  and  one  of  the  Epistles 
of  St.  Ignatius,  who  suffered  martyrdom  about  107 
A.D.,  refers  to  Christians  as  "no  longer  observing  the 
Sabbath,  but  living  in  the  observance  of  the  Lord's 
Day  (/LiT/Ken  <ro,)8)8aTt£oi>Tes,  aXXa  Kara  KvpiaKyv  £aWcs), 
on  which  also  our  life  has  sprung  up  again  by 
Him  and  by  His  death."  3  However,  the  Jewish  ele- 
ment in  the  churches  of  the  East  was  strong  enough 
to  secure  the  ecclesiastical  recognition  of  Saturday  as 
a  holy  day.  It  long  continued  to  be  observed  like 
Sunday,  by  religious  assemblies  and  feasting,  though 
not  by  any  compulsory  cessation  of  the  ordinary  occu- 
pations.4 Tertullian  was  the  first  Church  Father  to 
declare  that  Christians  ought  to  abstain  on  Sunday 

376;      J.     A.     Hessey,     Sunday,*  admiring  the  workmanship  of  God, 

London,  1889,  pp.  40-49.  and  not  eating  things  prepared  the 

1  Matthew,  xii,  8 ;    Mark,  ii,  27 ;  day    before,    nor   using   lukewarm 
John,  v,  17.  drinks,  and  walking  within  a  pre- 

2  Colossians,    ii,     16;     compare  scribed  space,  nor  finding  delight 
Romans,    xiv,    5  ;      Galatians,    iv,  in  dancing,  and  plaudits  which  have 
lo-ii.  no   sense   in    them"    (Ante-Nicene 

3  Epistola  ad  Magnesias,  9.     The  Fathers,  i,  62  sq.). 

longer  recension  of  this  passage,  4  Constitutiones  Apostolica,  ii, 
though  an  interpolation  of  much  59,  I,  vii,  23,  2,  viii,  33,  I ;  Con- 
later  date,  expresses  the  same  cilium  Laodicenum,  can.  16  (Labbe- 
antagonism  toward  sabbatizing :  Mansi,  Sacrorum  conciliorum  col" 
"  But  let  every  one  of  you  keep  the  lectio,  ii,  567) ;  Socrates,  Historia 
Sabbath  after  a  spiritual  manner,  ecclesiastic  a,  vi,  8.  The  church 
rejoicing  in  meditation  on  the  law,  council  held  at  Laodicea  in  363  A.D. 
not  in  relaxation  of  the  body,  anathematized  as  Judaizers  those 


270  REST  DAYS 

from  secular  duties  and  occupations,  lest  they  should 
"give  place  to  the  Devil."1  Tertullian's  statement 
has  sometimes  been  understood  to  indicate  a  Sabba- 
tarian spirit  on  the  part  of  its  author;  properly  con- 
sidered, however,  it  means  only  that  Christians  should 
so  carefully  observe  the  duties  peculiar  to  the  Lord's 
Day*as  to  neglect,  if  necessary,  their  worldly  business 
on  that  day.  Other  Church  Fathers  of  the  third 
century,  including  Origen  and  Cyprian,  made  no  refer- 
ence to  Sunday  as  a  day  of  abstinence  from  labour. 
The  earliest  Sunday  law,  the  edict  issued  by  Constan- 
tine  in  321  A.D.,  bore  no  relation  to  Christianity.2 
What  began,  however,  as  a  pagan  ordinance,  ended 
as  a  Christian  regulation ;  and  a  long  series  of  imperial 
decrees,  during  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  centuries, 
enjoined  with  increasing  stringency  abstinence  from 
labour  on  Sunday.  The  view  that  the  Christian  Lord's 
Day  is  but  the  Jewish  Sabbath  transferred  from  the 
seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week  found  occasional 
expression  in  both  the  law  and  the  theology  of  the 

who  refrained  from  work  on  Satur-  (W.   C.  Harris,    The  Highlands  of 

day  (ConciliumLaodicenum,  can.  29 ;  Ethiopia,  New  York  [1843],  p.  272). 

Labbe-Mansi,    op.    cit.,    ii,    580).  The  Celts  kept  Saturday  as  a  day 

The  anathema   did  not  penetrate  of  rest,  with  special  religious  ser- 

to  the  ancient  Christian  kingdom  of  vices  on   Sunday    (A.    Bellesheim, 

Abyssinia,  where  Saturday  is  still  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 

strictly    observed.     "The   ox    and  Scotland,  Edinburgh,  1887-1890,  i, 

the  ass  are  at  rest.     Agricultural  86). 

pursuits     are    suspended.     House-  1  De  oratione,  23 :    Omni  anxie- 

hold  avocations  must  be  laid  aside,  tatis  habitu  et  officio  cavere  debemus, 

and   the   spirit   of  idleness   reigns  differentes  etiam   negotia,  ne  quern 

throughout  the  day.  .  .  .     When,  diabolo   locum    demus.     Tertullian, 

a  few  years  ago,  one  daring  spirit  however,  elsewhere  rejects  the  im- 

presumed,  in  advance  of  the  age,  plication  that  Christians  should  be 

to  burst  the  fetters  of  superstition,  sabbatizers,   "we,   to  whom   these 

his  majesty  the  king  of  Shoa,  stim-  Sabbaths  belong  not,  nor  the  new 

ulated  by  the  advice  of  besotted  moons,    nor   the   feast   days   once 

monks,     delegated      his     wardens  beloved  of  God"  (De  idolatria,  14) ; 

throughout  the  land,  and  issued  a  compare    idem,    Apologeticus,    16; 

proclamation,  that  whoso  disturbed  idem,  Ad  nationes,  i,  13  ;  idem,  Ad- 

the  original  dreamy  stillness  of  the  versus   Judceos,   4 ;    Augustine,    De 

Jewish  Sabbath  should  forfeit  his  spiritu  et  littera,  24. 
property  to  the  royal  treasury,  and  2  Above,  pp.  122  sq. 

be  consigned  to  the  state  dungeon" 


THE  HEBREW  SABBATH  271 

Middle  Ages,  and  culminated  in  the  Sabbatarian  ex- 
cesses of  English  and  Scottish  Puritanism.1 

1  For  the  history  of  Sunday  legis-  Studies  in  English  History,  Edin- 

lation  see  E.  V.  Neale,  Feasts  and  burgh,   1881,   pp.   286-315;    Hans 

Fasts,  London,  1845 ;   R.  E.  Prime,  [Johannes]   Meinhold,   Sabbat   und 

"Sunday Legislation,"  New  Schajf-  Sonntag,    Leipzig,    1909,    pp.    65- 

Herzog    Encyclopedia    of   Religious  103 ;    Alice  M.  Earle,  The  Sabbath 

Knowledge,  xi,   146-151;    J.  Gair-  in    Puritan    New    England, '  New 

diner,  "  Sundays,  Ancient  and  Mod-  York,  1891,  pp.  245-258. 
ern,"  in  Gairdiner  and  Spedding, 


CHAPTER  IX 

UNLUCKY    DAYS 

THE  observance  of  lucky  and  unlucky  days  is  a 
familiar  phenomenon  in  primitive  society  and  among 
peoples  of  archaic  civilization.  Under  the  attenuated 
form  of  a  survival,  the  superstition  still  lingers  in  civi-* 
lized  and  Christian  lands.  The  reasons  for  the  assign- 
ment of  a  good  or  an  evil  character  to  certain  days  are 
usually  quite  obscure ;  and  even  where  explanations 
are  provided,  these  are,  as  a  rule,  explanations  after 
the  event.  The  attempt  to  provide  a  satisfactory 
origin  for  them  insensibly  widens  out  into  an  effort 
to  account  for  the  genesis  of  the  great  body  of  popular 
and  anonymous  superstitions. 

Probably  the  commonest  source  of  the  belief  in  un- 
lucky days  is  to  be  sought  in  that  erroneous  associa- 
tion of  ideas  which  underlies  so  much  of  savage  magic 
and  savage  religion.  If  an  event,  fortunate  or  unfortu- 
nate, has  taken  place  on  a  certain  day,  the  notion  easily 
arises  that  all  actions  performed  on  the  recurrence  of 
the  day  will  have  a  similarly  favourable  or  unfavour- 
able issue.  Among  the  Tshi  of  west  Africa,  the  most 
unlucky  day  is  the  anniversary  of  the  Saturday  on 
which  Osai  Tutu  was  slain  in  an  ambush  near  Acro- 
manti  in  I73I.1  In  modern  Macedonia  the  superla- 
tive ill-luck  attending  Tuesday  is  explained  by  some  as 
due  to  the  fact  —  historically  true  —  that  Constanti- 
nople was  taken  by  the  Turks  on  this  day  of  the  week.2 

1  Ellis,     Tshi-speaking     Peoples,  Tuesday    is    an    unlucky    day    for 
pp.  219  sq.  every     sort    of    enterprise     (Miss 

2  G.     F.     Abbott,     Macedonian  Mary  Hamilton,  Greek  Saints  and 
Folklore,  Cambridge,  1903,  p.  189.  their    Festivals,    Edinburgh,    1910, 
In     Greece     and     Albania,     also,  p.  190). 

272 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  273 

The  dies  religiosi,  or  unlucky  days,  of  the  Roman  calen- 
dar included  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  the  Allia, 
dies  Alliensis  (July  18),  when  the  republic  had  suffered 
grave  misfortune.  The  same  date  was  also  observed 
as  the  anniversary  of  the  destruction  of  the  Fabii  at 
the  Cremera,  477  B.C.1  After  the  assassination  of 
Julius  Caesar  a  decree  was  made  that  the  Ides  of  March 
(March  15)  should  be  called  parricidium,  and  hence- 
forth should  be  observed  as  an  unlucky  day.2  The 
superstitions  which  in  Christian  times  have  gathered 
about  Friday  --  at  once  a  holy  and  an  unlucky  day  — 
are  connected  with  it  as  the  anniversary  of  Christ's 
Passion.  In  the  Middle  Ages  people  were  accustomed 
to  date  on  Friday  all  the  unfortunate  events  of  reli- 
gious tradition  and  history.  On  that  day  Adam  sinned 
and  was  driven  from  Paradise,  Cain  killed  his  brother 
Abel,  John  the  Baptist  was  beheaded,  and  Herod  slew 
the  Holy  Innocents.  It  was  also  the  day  of  the  Deluge, 
the  Confusion  of  Tongues,  and  the  infliction  of  the 
Plagues  upon  Egypt.  Synchronisms  of  this  sort  had 
a  great  attraction  to  the  mediaeval  mind,  and  numer- 
ous lists  of  them  are  preserved  in  old  manuscripts.3 
There  is  a  Jewish  superstition,  reaching  back  to  the 

1  Livy,  vi,  i ;  Tacitus,  Historic?,  business  must  be  commenced" 
ii,  91;  Suetonius,  Fitellius,  n.  (Buchanan,  in  Asiatick  Researches, 
Compare  Ovid  (Fasti,  i,  49-50) :  vi,  172).  Among  the  Parsis  Tues- 


•/;  illis 

j'  i  uays,     gciicidiiy      itvutucu     iwi      uc- 

?P   —    »"  ***  ^f  occ=8eSManayndpelhnesr 

will  not  begin  an  important  work 

2  Suetonius,  Divus  Julius^  88.  or  start  on  a  distant  journey  on 

3  See  "La   recommandation   du  these  days   (J.  J.  Modi,   "Omens 
yendredi,"     Melusine,     1888-1889,  among    the    Parsees,"    Journal   of 
iv,  104,  133  sqq.j  205  sq.     However,  the  Anthropological  Society  of  Bom- 
the  Friday  superstition  may  ante-  bay,    i,     294).     All    over     Burma 
date  Christianity.     In  Macedonia  Friday    is     unlucky.     "Don't    go 
it   is    believed    that    ablutions   on  on    Friday"   is    a    current    saying 
Friday    are    dangerous,    especially  (L.  Vossion,  "./VaMvorship  among 
for    women    in    childbed    (Abbott,  the  Burmese,"  Journal  of  American 
op.  cit.,  p.   190).     The   Brahmans  Folk-lore,  1892,  iv,  112).     For  Rus- 
of  India  share  the  Friday  supersti-  sian  superstitions  relating  to  Fri- 
tion,  saying  that  "on  this  day  no  day  see  above,  p.  222  n.z 

i 


274  REST  DAYS 

Talmud,  that  it  is  lucky  to  begin  an  undertaking  on 
Tuesday,  because,  in  describing  the  third  day  of  crea- 
tion, it  is  said,  "God  saw  that  it  was  good."  Con- 
trariwise, it  is  unlucky  to  commence  anything  of  im- 
portance on  Monday,  as  to  which  day  nothing  at  all 
is  said.1  Where  such  conceptions  are  rife,  they  readily 
lend  themselves  to  divination  and  astrology,  and  under 
the  fostering  care  of  practitioners  of  magical  arts  may 
develop  into  elaborate  augural  codes. 

The  observation  of  natural  phenomena  sometimes 
accounts  for  the  unlucky  character  ascribed  to  partic- 
ular occasions.  We  have  already  noted  many  super- 
stitious observances  connected  with  the  phases  of  the 
moon,  her  monthly  disappearance  from  the  heavens,  and 
her  occasional  eclipse  by  the  earth.  A  further  illus- 
tration of  the  same  subject  is  found  in  the  astrological 
doctrine  of  the  moon  stations.  The  old  Babylonian 
astronomers,  one  of  whose  duties  it  was  to  make  very 
careful  observations  of  the  moon,  noticed  that  at 
each  lunation  she  appears  to  pass  by  the  same  star- 
groups.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  to  associate  the 
moon  with  the  conspicuous  stars  and  constellations 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  moon's  path.  The  names  which 
they  received  were  in  time  extended  to  the  lunar 
days  themselves ;  and  this  apparent  connection  be- 
tween the  two  became  the  principal  basis  of  astrological 
forecasts  for  each  day  of  the  sidereal  month.2  The 
fact  is  well  known  that  Babylonian  astrology  and 
astronomy  —  for  the  two  were  scarcely  distinguish- 
able in  the  earlier  period  —  exerted  great  influence 
on  the  neighbouring  peoples  of  Asia ;  and  hence  it  has 
been  generally  assumed  that  the  lunar  mansions, 
reckoned  at  twenty-seven  or  twenty-eight  in  number, 
which  we  find  among  the  Hindus  and  Chinese,  and  the 

1  J.  Jacobs,  "  Superstition,"  Jew-  has  a  mean  length  of  27  days,  7 
ish  Encyclopedia,  xi,  599.  hours,  43  minutes,  and  II  seconds. 

2  The    sidereal     month,     deter-  The  least   duration   is   27  days,  4 
mined    by    the   moon's   revolution  hours,  and   the   greatest,    about  7 
from  any  star  back  to  the  same  star,  hours  longer. 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  275 

augural  calendars  connected  therewith,  were  derived 
ultimately  from  Babylonia.1  In  modern  India  the 
nakshatra,  as  they  are  called,  "are  consulted  at  births, 
marriages,  and  on  all  occasions  of  family  rejoicing, 
distress,  or  calamity.  No  one  undertakes  a  journey  or 
any  important  matter  except  on  days  which  the  aspect 
of  the  nakshatra  renders  lucky  and  auspicious." 2 
Among  the  Persians  and  Arabs  the  lunar  stations  have 
long  been  employed  for  astrological  purposes.3  The 
Arabs  carried  them  to  Madagascar,  where  they  gave 
rise  to  an  elaborate  distinction  of  days  lucky  and  un- 
lucky. Some  days  were  considered  absolutely  bad ; 
others  were  absolutely  good ;  others  were  indifferent. 
Again,  some  days  were  not  regarded  as  good  in  gen- 
eral, though  still  good  enough  for  special  purposes; 
one  being  excellent  for  a  house-warming,  another 
for  marking  out  the  ground  for  a  new  town,  and 
still  another  was  lucky  to  be  born  on,  but  bad  for 
business.  Some  days  had  a  special  peculiarity  of 
their  own,  for  instance,  children  born  on  a  certain 
day  usually  became  dumb.  The  character  of  a  day, 
according  to  the  Malagasy  astrologers,  depended,  in 
short,  on  what  one  of  the  twenty-eight  lunar  stations 
it  represented.4 

1 F.    K.   Ginzel    (Handbuch   der  Persian    Burj-Namah,  or  Book  of 

mathematischen      und     technischen  Omens  from  the  Moon,"  Journal  of 

Chronologic,  Leipzig,  1906-1911,  i,  the  American  Oriental  Society,  1910, 

70  sqq.}  provides  a  useful  survey,  xx,  337  sqq.;  A.  de  C.  Motylinski, 

with  bibliographies,  of  the  lengthy  Les  mansions   lunaires   des  Arabes, 

discussions   relating  to   the  origin  Algiers,  1899. 

and  diffusion  of  the  moon-stations.  4  J.  Sibree,  "  Divination  among 

See  also  W.  D.  Whitney,  "On  the  the    Malagasy,"    Folk-lore,     1892, 

Lunar  Zodiac  of  India,  Arabia,  and  iii,    220   sq.     In    Madagascar    the 

China,"   in    his  Oriental  and  Lin-  names  of  the  separate  days  in  the 

guistic  Studies,  second  series,  New  month    have   been    taken    directly 

York,  1874,  pp.  341-421.  from    the    Arabic    names    for    the 

2  Sir  M.  Monier-Williams,  Brdh-  twenty-eight    lunar    mansions.     It 
manism  and  Hinduism,4'  New  York,  thus  appears  that  these  names  have 
1891,  pp.  345  sq.;    compare  J.  A.  both  astrological  and  chronological 
Dubois,  Hindu  Manners,  Customs,  value   (G.   Ferrand,  "Note  sur  le 
and     Ceremonies?    Oxford,     1906,  calendrier    malgache    et    le    fand- 
p.  382.  ruana"    Revue    des    etudes    ethno- 

3  L.     H.     Gray,     "The     Parsi-  graphiques  et  sociologiques,  1908,  i, 


276 


REST  DAYS 


The  conception  of  unluckiness  may  be  deduced  a 
-priori  from  the  assumed  critical  nature  of  certain  pe- 
riods, such  as  epagomenal  months  and  days.  The 
thirteenth  month,  which  many  peoples  employing 
lunar  calculations  find  it  necessary  to  intercalate  at 
more  or  less  regular  intervals,  is  sometimes  regarded 
as  unlucky.1  Again,  the  eleven  or  twelve  days  by 
which  the  solar  year  exceeds  the  lunar  year  assumed 
among  various  Indo-European  peoples  a  portentous  and 
often  unfavourable  significance.2  The  celebration  of 
the  Twelve  Nights,  in  the  sense  of  the  Twelve  Nights 
and  Days,  as  a  festival  before  or  after  the  winter  sol- 
stice, has  been  assigned  to  the  Aryans  of  the  Vedic 
age  in  India  on  the  strength  of  certain  passages  in  the 
Rig-Veda,  where  the  three  Ribhus,  generally  regarded 
as  the  personified  seasonal  deities  who  divided  up  the 
year,  are  described  as  sleeping  during  these  days  "  in 


95.  Among  the  northern  Abyssin- 
ians  lucky  and  unlucky  days  are 
likewise  determined  by  the  lunar 
stations,  though  only  six  or  seven 
are  reckoned,  each  containing  from 
two  to  seven  days  (E.  Littmann, 
"  Sternensagen  und  Astrologisches 
aus  Nordabessinien,"  Archiv  fur 
Religionswissenschaft,  1908,  xi, 
301  sq.). 

1  Above,  p.  177  n.2 

2  According  to  A.  Jeremias  no 
evidence  exists  for  the  recognition 
of  twelve  intercalary  days  in  the 
ancient  Oriental  world  (Das  Alter 
der  babylonischen  Astronomie,  Leip- 
zig, 1909,  p.  42  n.1).     However,  the 
Babylonian  New  Year's  festival  of 
Zagmuk,  which  occupied  the  first 
eleven  days  of  the  spring  month  of 
Nisan,    has    been    compared    with 
the  Twelve  Days  of  Indo-European 
antiquity   (H.   Winckler,   Altorien- 
talische  Forschungen,  Leipzig,  1898, 
ii,  i,  182).     What  relation,  if  any, 
the    Babylonian   Zagmuk    bore   to 
the  Babylo-Persian  Sacasa  and  the 
Hebrew    Purim    is    still    a   subject 


of  controversy.  See  the  full  pres- 
entation of  the  evidence  in  Sir 
J.  G.  Frazer,  The  Scapegoat,  Lon- 
don, 1913,  pp.  354-407.  The 
Babylonian  Epic  of  Gilgamesh, 
recorded  on  twelve  cuneiform  tab- 
lets, has  been  plausibly  interpreted 
as  a  solar  myth,  recounting  the 
sun's  annual  course  during  the 
twelve  months.  Now,  a  relation- 
ship undoubtedly  exists  between  at 
least  three  tablets  of  the  poem  and 
the  corresponding  months  of  the 
year,  notably  in  the  case  of  the 
eleventh  tablet,  in  which  the  story 
of  the  Deluge  is  told,  and  the 
eleventh  month,  which  by  the 
Babylonians  was  termed  the 
"month  of  rain"  (M.  Jastrow, 
Religion  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria, 
pp.  484,  510).  It  is  curious,  there- 
fore, to  find  that  in  the  Hebrew 
narrative  of  the  Flood  the  waters 
cover  the  earth  for  the  period  of  a 
year  and  eleven  days,  apparently, 
here,  a  lunar  year  of  354  days  plus 
eleven  days  (Genesis,  vii,  n,  viii, 
14). 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  277 

the  house  of  the  sun."  1  The  prophetic  character  of 
the  Twelve  Days  appears  to  be  indicated  by  their 
characterization  in  various  Brahmanical  writings  as 
an  "image  of  the  coming  year."2  Some  eminent 
scholars  have  thought  that  the  Twelve  Days  represent 
an  ancient  method  of  adjusting  the  lunar  year  to  the 
solar  year,  as  practised  by  the  early  Aryans  before  the 
custom  arose  of  inserting  a  thirteenth  month,  to  which 
reference  is  also  made  in  the  Rig-Veda?  This  opinion, 
though  not  free  from  difficulties,  is  strongly  supported 
by  numerous  parallels  to  the  Indian  evidence  found  in 
European  folklore  of  the  Twelve  Days.4 

Throughout  Europe  from  east  to  west  the  Twelve 
Days,  usually  reckoned  from  Christmas  to  Epiphany, 
are  prolific  in  popular  superstitions  and  customs. 
At  this  time  the  souls  of  the  dead,  sometimes  under 
animal  form,  return  to  the  earth  and  revisit  the  living ; 
witches  and  demons  swarm  in  the  mischief-laden  air; 
werewolves  roam  about,  and  the  Wild  Huntsman  rides 
in  the  heavens.  Most  of  the  ceremonies  performed 
during  the  Twelve  Days  have  a  distinctly  pagan  cast, 
such  as  the  constant  fire  on  the  domestic  hearth,  the 
village  bonfires,  and  the  lighted  candles ;  while  others, 
such  as  the  sprinkling  of  the  houses  with  holy  water 
and  the  marking  of  the  cross  on  the  doors,  have  only 

*  Rig-Veda,  i,  161,  n,  13,  iv,  33,  Berlin,   1898,  pp.   559  -W     Com- 

7;  compare 4tharva-Feda,iv,  n,  n  pare    A.     Ludwig,    Der    Rigveda, 

(transl.W.  D.Whitney,  p.  166).  Prague,  1883,  vi,  232;    A.  Kaegi, 

2  Kathaka,     7,     5;       Taittiriya-  The  Rigveda,  Boston,  1886,  p.  37; 
brdhmana,  I,  I,  9,  10;   H.  Zimmer,  Zimmer,  op.  cit.,  pp.  366  sq.     For 
Altindisches    Leben,    Berlin,    1879,  contrary  opinions  see  O.  Schrader, 
p.  367.  Reallexikon    der    indogermanischen 

3  A.     Weber,     "Zwei     vedische  Altertumskunde,   pp.    391    sq.;    G. 
Texte  iiber  Omina  und  Portenta,"  Thibaut,  in  Biihler's  Grundriss  der 
Philologische    und    historische    Ab-  indo-arischen  Philologie  und  Alter- 
handlungen    der    kdniglichen    Aka-  tumskunde,  iii,  pt.  ix,  9  sq. 

demie  der  'Wissenschaften  zu  Berlin,  *  J.  Lippert,  Christentum,  Folks- 

1858,  pp.  388  sq.;    idem,  Indische  glaube,    und    Folksbrauch,    Berlin, 

Studien,  1868,  x,  242  sq.,  1885,  xvii,  1882,  pp.  680-685;    C.  A.  Miles, 

223    sqq.t    1898,    xviii,    45;     idem,  Christmas  in  Ritual  and  Tradition, 

"Vedische    Beitrage,"    Sitzungsbe-  Christian  and  Pagan,  London,  1912, 

richte      der     koniglich-preussischen  pp.   238-246;    Frazer,    The  Scape- 

Akademie    der    Wissenschaften    zu  goat,  pp.  313-3 45. 


278  REST  DAYS 

a  thin  veneer  of  Christianity.  To  a  certain  extent 
the  Twelve  Days  thus  form  the  modern  European 
representative  of  those  seasons  devoted  to  the  expul- 
sion of  ghosts  and  evil  spirits  which  are  observed  by 
peoples  of  the  lower  culture.1  A  further  resemblance 
exists  in  the  distinctly  unlucky  character  often  assigned 
to  the  Twelve  Days.  In  Macedonia  no  marriages  are 
solemnized  during  their  continuance.2  In  various  parts 
of  Germany  they  are  kept  as  rest  days,  when  the  most 
important  household  occupations  and  even  those  on 
the  farm  are  omitted.  The  housewife  must  not  spin, 
weave  lace,  or  engage  in  her  usual  tasks  of  washing 
and  baking;  and  the  farmer  must  not  thresh  grain. 
Certain  foods,  especially  peas  and  other  legumes,  are 
carefully  avoided ;  and  no  meat  is  eaten.  It  is  not 
wise  to  lend  anything  out  of  the  house  or  to  remove 
refuse  and  sweepings.  One  ought  not  to  be  short  of 
anything  at  this  time,  else  one  will  be  short  of  every- 
thing during  the  ensuing  year.  Certain  animals, 
particularly  associated  with  witches,  should  not  be 
called  by  their  right  names ;  hence,  you  must  refer  to 
the  fox  as  "Mr.  Long-tail,"  and  to  the  mouse  as  "Floor- 
runner."  During  these  fateful  days  perfect  quiet  is 
essential :  no  table  must  be  pushed  about  and  no  doors 
slammed,  otherwise  the  house  will  be  struck  by  light- 
ning. In  this  period  dreams  and  other  prognostics 
are  most  to  be  relied  on  and  are  most  carefully  investi- 
gated. Everywhere  in  Germany  it  is  believed  that 
the  weather  of  the  Twelve  Days  determines  what 
will  be  experienced  during  the  following  twelve  months, 
so  that  they  form,  in  effect,  a  meteorological  calendar 
for  the  new  year.3  This  last  superstition,  however,  is 

1  Above,  pp.  74  sqq.  Siiddeutschland  und  Schlesien,  Graz, 

2G.  F.  Abbott,  Macedonian  1853,  pp.  n  sq.;  K.  A.  Oberle, 

Folklore y  Cambridge,  1903,  p.  75.  Uberreste  germanischen  Heidentums 

3  A.  Wuttke,  Der  deutsche  Folks-  im  Christentum,  Baden-Baden, 

aberglaube    der    Gegenwart?  edited  1883,   pp.   63   sq.;    E.   H.   Meyer, 

by    E.    H.    Meyer,    Berlin,    1900,  Indogermanische    Mythen,     Berlin, 

pp.  63  sqq.     See  also  K.  Weinhold,  1887,  ii,  526  sqq. 

Weihnacht-Spiele    und    Lieder    aus 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  279 

not  confined  to  Germany,  being  met,  for  instance,  in 
modern  Brittany.  In  most  parts  of  that  country  the 
Twelve  Days,  here  reckoned  from  the  first  of  January, 
are  popularly  termed  gour-deziou,  "male  days,"  an 
expression  which  must  be  understood  as  meaning  supple- 
mentary or  additional  days.1  A  superstitious  avoid- 
ance of  certain  kinds  of  work  during  the  Twelve  Days 
may  still  be  found  in  remote  districts  of  the  British 
Isles.  In  Shropshire  horses  are  not  set  to  the  plough 
at  this  time  and  no  spinning  is  done.2  In  Aberdeen- 
shire  people  believe  that  all  work  ought,  if  possible,  to 
be  finished  before  Christmas  Day.  Between  this  time 
and  New  Year's  Eve  no  bread  is  baked  and  no  clothes 
are  washed,  and  the  spinning-wheel  must  be  carried 
from  one  side  of  the  house  to  the  other.3  The  Twelve 
Days  over  and  above  the  year  were  called  in  Wales 
"days  of  days"  (dyddian  dyddon).  "They  are  free 
days,  and  let  any  one  come  from  any  place  he  may, 
he  will  be  free,  and  exposed  to  no  weapon  or  stroke, 
since  there  can  be  no  court  and  law  of  country  on  those 
days."  4 

The  solar  year,  superseding  the  lunar  year  of  three 
hundred  and  fifty-four  days,  seems  to  have  been 
generally  assumed  in  the  first  instance  at  the  round 
number  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  days,  the  earth's 
periodical  course  around  the  sun  being  taken  as  a  multi- 
ple of  the  moon's  course  around  the  earth.  In  ancient 
Mexico,  where  a  solar  calendar  came  into  use,  the  three 
hundred  and  sixty  days  were  divided  into  eighteen 
periods,  each  of  twenty  days.  As  their  total  did  not 
round  out  the  solar  year  it  became  necessary  to  add 
five  days  at  the  end  of  the  year ;  and  these  possessed 

1 J.    Loth,    "Les    douze    jours  3W.  Gregor,  Notes  on  the  Folk' 

supplementaires    (gour-deziou)    des  lore  of  the  North-east  of  Scotland, 

Bretons,    et    les    douze    jours  des  London,    1881,   p.    156;    idem,  in 

Germains   et   des   Indous,"    Revue  Folk-lore  Record,  1884,  ii,  332. 
celtique,  1903,  xxiv,  310-312.  4  John  Williams  ab  Ithel,  Bard-- 

2  Miss     C.     S.     Burne,     editor,  das,     Llandovery,     1862-1874,     i, 

Shropshire  Folk-lore,  London,  1883,  424  sq. 
p.  403. 


28o  REST  DAYS 

an  unfavourable  character.  They  were  called  nemon- 
temi,  "the  superfluous,  supplementary  days,"  with 
the  secondary  significance  of  "the  useless  days,"  as 
being  consecrated  to  no  deity  and  employed  for  no 
civic  business.  That  they  were  considered  sinister 
and  unlucky  is  evident  from  the  abstinence  that  char- 
acterized them.  Nothing  of  any  importance  was 
done  on  the  nemontemi.  The  house  was  not  swept, 
no  legal  case  was  tried,  and  any  person  so  unfortunate 
as  to  be  born  on  one  of  these  days  was  destined  to  a 
poor  and  miserable  life.  At  the  same  time,  the  nemon- 
temi  possessed  a  prophetic  power  for  the  whole  year. 
"They  were  careful,"  says  Father  Sahagun,  "during 
these  fatal  days  not  to  fall  asleep  during  the  day,  not 
to  quarrel  together,  not  to  trip  or  to  fall,  because  they 
said  that  if  any  of  these  things  befell  them,  they  would 
continue  to  befall  them  thence  forevermore."  l  Among 
the  Mayas  of  Yucatan  the  same  abstinence  prevailed 
on  the  five  xma  kaba  kin,  the  "days  without  names." 
On  these  days  "men  left  the  house  as  seldom  as  pos- 
sible, did  not  wash  or  comb  themselves,  and  took  special 
care  not  to  undertake  any  menial  or  difficult  task, 
doubtless  because  they  lived  in  the  conviction  that 
they  would  be  forced  to  keep  on  doing  it  through 
the  whole  ensuing  year.  The  Mexicans  were  more 
passive  in  regard  to  these  days,  inasmuch  as  they  merely 
took  care  to  avoid  conjuring  up  mischief  for  the  coming 
year,  while  the  Mayas  did  things  more  thoroughly. 
During  these  days,  so  portentous  for  the  entire  year, 
they  banished  the  evil  which  might  threaten  them. 
They  prepared  a  clay  image  of  the  demon  of  evil, 

1  E.  Seler,  "The  Mexican  Chro-  37;   transl.  Jourdanet  and  Simeon, 

nology,"  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Paris,  1880,  pp.  50,  77,  164,  283, 

American  Ethnology,  no.  28,  p.  16.  291).     Other    Spanish    authorities 

The     passage     quoted     above     is  refer    to    the    nemontemi    as    days 

from    Seler's    translation    of    the  when  the  people  did  nothing  but 

Aztec  text  of  Sahagun,   which   is  receive  and  return  visits  (Clavigero, 

more    complete    than    the    latter' s  Storia   antica  del  Messico,  vi,  24; 

Spanish    version    (Historia    general  Acosta,    Historia    de    las    Indiasy 

de  las  cos  as  de  Nueva  Espana,  ii,  vi,  2). 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  281 

Uuayayab,  that  is,  u-uayab-haab  ('by  whom  the  year 
is  poisoned'),  confronted  it  with  the  deity  who  had 
supreme  power  during  the  year  in  question,  and  then 
carried  it  out  of  the  village  in  the  direction  of  that 
cardinal  point  to  which  the  new  year  belonged."  l 

It  is  an  impressive  testimony  to  the  essential  unity 
of  primitive  culture  that  in  a  far  distant  quarter  of  the 
globe  an  almost  identical  superstition  existed.  The 
Egyptian  solar  calendar,  like  the  Mexican,  was  based 
on  a  year  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  days,  but  in  Egypt 
these  were  grouped  into  twelve  equal  months  of  thirty 
days  each,  leaving  five  supplementary  days  to  be  added 
at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  month  —  "the  five  days  over 
and  above  the  year"  (haru  dudit  him  ronpit),  as  they 
were  styled.2  Their  great  antiquity  is  indicated  by 
another  designation,  "little  month,"  applied  to  them; 
and,  in  fact,  a  notice  of  the  epagomenal  days  occurs 
in  the  Pyramid  Texts  belonging  to  the  Sixth  Dynasty, 
where  they  are  referred  to  as  the  "five  additional  days" 
on  which  the  gods  were  born.3  Later  monumental 
records  show  that  the  deities  associated  respectively 
with  these  days  were  the  five  members  of  the  Osirian 
cycle,  Osiris,  Horus,  Set,  Isis,  and  Nephthys.4  The 
evidence  of  the  Leiden  Papyrus,  setting  forth  the  cere- 
monies requisite  for  epagomenal  days,  indicates  that 

1  E.    Seler,    in    Bulletin    of   the  reference  is  found  in  an  inscription 
Bureau     of    American    Ethnology,  belonging  to  the  time  of  the  Fifth 
no.  28,  pp.  16  sq.;   compare  idem,  Dynasty  (K.  Sethe,  Urkunden  des 
in  Hastings's  Encyclopedia  of  Reli-  alien  Reichs,  Leipzig,  1903,  i,  24). 
gion    and    Ethics,    iii,    308.     The  *  H.   Brugsch,   "Die  fiinf  Epa- 
principal  authority  for  the  Maya  gomenen     in     einem     hieratischen 
custom  is  Diego  de  Landa,  Relacion  Papyrus  zu  Leiden,"  Zeitschrift  der 
de  las  cosas  de  Yucatan,  ch.  xxxv  deutschen   morgenldndischen   Gesell- 
(transl.    Brasseur    de    Bourbourg,  schaft,  1852,  v,  254-258;    compare 
pp.  211  sqq.).  idem,     Die    Agyptologie,      Leipzig, 

2  These  five  days  thus  inserted  1891,  p.  362;     C.  JR..  Lepsius,  Die 
between  the  "small  year"  and  the  Chronologic    der    Agypter,    Berlin, 
"large    year"    did    not    interrupt  1849,  i,  145  sqq.     The  chief  classi- 
the  regular  sequence  of  the  three  cal   references   to   the  epagomenai 
decades  into  which  the  Egyptian  days  are  Herodotus,  ii,  4;  Plutarch, 
month    was    divided;     see    above,  De  I  side  et  Osiride,  12;    and  Dio- 
p.  191.  dorus  Siculus,  i,  13,  4. 

3  Pepi,  2,  1.  754.     A  still  earlier 


282  REST  DAYS 

they  enjoyed  exceptional  importance  because  of  their 
position  at  the  end  of  the  year.  As  religious  festivals 
they  were  consecrated  to  the  dead.  Furthermore, 
they  bore  a  distinctly  ominous  or  unlucky  character, 
and  many  were  the  prayers  and  magical  formulas  to 
be  recited  by  the  pious  worshipper  in  order  to  secure 
divine  protection  against  the  malefic  influences  sup- 
posed to  characterize  them.  To  positive  rites  of  prayer 
and  sacrifice  the  worshipper  must  add  cessation  of 
all  activity:  "during  the  five  days  at  the  end  of  the 
year  do  no  work;  abstain  from  everything"  —  so 
runs  the  priestly  text.1  These  precautions  taken,  he 
might  look  forward  to  a  happy  New  Year. 

The  conquest  of  Egypt  in  the  sixth  century  B.C. 
by  the  Achaemenian  kings  seems  to  have  introduced  a 
knowledge  of  the  excellencies  of  the  Egyptian  solar 
reckoning  to  the  Persians.  Their  five  epagomenal 
days  were  called  the  Gatha-days,  each  being  sacred 
to  one  of  the  five  great  divisions  of  the  Gdthds,  or 
Zoroastrian  hymns.  A  Persian  calendar  of  late  date 
(1687  A.D.)  gives  the  first  day  as  lucky,  and  the  third 
as  unlucky.2  It  is  significant  that  among  the  Persians, 
as  in  ancient  Egypt,  the  epagomenal  days  particularly 
belonged  to  the  dead,  to  whom  sacrifices  were  regu- 
larly offered  at  this  time,  as  well  as  during  the  first 
five  days  of  the  new  year.3  The  Armenians  also  had 
their  five  supplementary  days  —  aweleach  —  interca- 
lated after  the  twelfth  month,  an  arrangement  doubt- 
less borrowed  from  the  Persians,  but  these  days  do 

1  F.  J.  Chabas,  Le  calendrier  des  ness  on  it  and  took  no  care  of  their 

jours  fastes  et  nefastes  de  I'annee  persons  till  nightfall.     The  paral- 

egyptienne,  Chalon-s.-S.,  1870,  pp.  lei  to  the  royal  observance  of  the 

102-107.     In  the  Leiden  Papyrus  Babylonian  "evil  days"  is  instruc- 

(i.  346)  only  the  first,  third,  and  tive  (above,  pp.  232  sq.). 
fifth    days    are    marked    with    the  2  L.  H.  Gray,  "Calendar  (Per- 

same    sign    as    unlucky,    but    the  sian),"  Hastings's  Encyclopedia  of 

observances  prescribed  relate  to  all  Religion  and  Ethics,  iii,  129;  idem, 

five  days.     Plutarch   (pp.  cit.,  12)  "Divination    (Persian),"    ibid.,   iv, 

refers  to  the  third  day,  that  of  Set  819. 

or   Tryphon,    as    inauspicious    for  3  F.   Justi,    Geschichte   des   alien 

Egyptian  kings,  who  did  no  busi-  Persiens,  Berlin,  1879,  p.  79. 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  283 

not  appear  to  have  been  marked  by  any  special  observ- 
ances.1 The  latest  attempt  to  introduce  the  use  of 
epagomenal  days  dates  from  the  time  of  the  French 
Revolution.  In  their  desire  to  abolish  a  chronological 
system  bound  up  with  the  Christian  religion  the  bold 
innovators  of  the  National  Convention  set  aside  in 
1793  the  Gregorian  calendar,  establishing  a  Republican 
calendar  in  which  the  seven-day  week  was  replaced 
by  the  decade  and  the  year  was  divided  into  twelve 
months  of  thirty  days  each,  according  to  the  old 
Egyptian  arrangement.  Five  intercalary  days,  popu- 
larly called  sansculottides,  came  at  the  end  of  the  year 
(six  days  at  the  end  of  every  fourth  year) ;  they  were 
dedicated  to  Virtue,  Genius,  Labour,  Opinion,  and 
Reward ;  and  were  observed  as  holidays.  But  this 
calendar,  which  John  Quincy  Adams  described  as  an 
"incongruous  composition  of  profound  learning  and 
superficial  frivolity,  of  irreligion  and  morality,  of  deli- 
cate imagination  and  coarse  vulgarity,"  had  a  short 
life.  In  1802  the  week  of  seven  days  returned  into 
general  use,  and  three  years  later  an  edict  of  Napoleon 
ordered  the  restoration  of  the  Gregorian  calendar.2 
In  our  own  time,  however,  serious  proposals  have  been 
made  looking  toward  the  reformation  of  the  present 
awkward  calendar,  and  among  them  is  the  suggestion 
that  we  adopt  the  ancient  Egyptian  system  of  months 
and  epagomenal  days. 

It  has  been  repeatedly  noticed  in  the  preceding  pages 
that  oftentimes  no  clear  line  of  demarcation  can  be 
drawn  between  days  tabu  and  days  considered  "un- 
lucky." Both  may  involve  ideas  of  contagion,  the 
sanctity  or  pollution  attaching  to  the  one  being  con- 
ceived as  scarcely  less  transmissible  than  the  vaguer 
"unluckiness"  which  belongs  to  certain  periods  and 
affects  everything  done  during  their  continuance. 

1  F.  Macler,  "Calendar  (Ar-  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and 

menian),"  Hastings's  Encyclopedia  Sciences,  1873,  viii,  348-364;  "Ca- 

of  Religion  and  Ethics,  iii,  70.  lendrier  republicain,"  La  grande 

2J.  Levering,  in  Proceedings  of  encyclopedie,  viii,  908-910. 


284  REST  DAYS 

How  some  of  the  so-called  unlucky  days,  still  linger- 
ing in  contemporary  civilization,  have  descended  from 
the  holy  days  of  antiquity  is  aptly  illustrated  by  the 
superstitions  relating  to  the  certain  days  of  March  and 
of  August,  as  observed  at  the  present  time  in  south- 
eastern Europe.  In  Macedonia  the  peasants  during 
the  first  three  days  and  the  last  three  days  of  these 
two  months  do  not  plant ;  they  cut  no  tree  or  vine, 
for  fear  lest  it  should  wither ;  they  do  not  bathe  in  the 
sea,  or  their  bodies  would  swell ;  and  they  even  re- 
frain from  washing  clothes.1  In  various  parts  of 
Greece  and  the  ^Egean  it  is  considered  necessary  to 
abstain  from  particular  kinds  of  work  on  certain  days 
of  August,  and  occasionally  of  March.  During  the 
first  five  days  of  August  the  people  of  Epirus  do  not 
wash  clothes  or  go  into  the  fields  to  work.  In  Crete 
the  period  is  longer,  for  here  on  the  first  six  and  last 
six  days  of  August  clothes  are  not  washed  and  grapes 
are  not  gathered.2  In  Cos  on  the  first  three  days  of 
August  the  women  do  no  work  (for  it  would  not  pros- 
per) and  wash  no  clothes  (for  these  would  soon  wear 
out).  The  eleven  days  which  follow  are  supposed 
to  foreshadow  the  weather  during  the  succeeding  eleven 
months  :  as  the  fourth  day  is,  so  will  September  be ; 
the  fifth  day  prognosticates  the  weather  for  October, 
and  so  on.  The  fifteenth  of  August  is  celebrated  as 
the  Feast  of  the  Assumption,  closing  a  fortnight's 
strict  fast.3  The  Cypriotes  observe  the  first  three  or 
six  days  of  August  as  times  when  no  trees  are  cut  or 
peeled  to  obtain  resin,  when  the  use  of  water  for  wash- 
ing clothes  or  the  body  is  forbidden,  and  when  no  one 
travels  by  water.  The  severity  of  the  regulations  has 
led  to  the  days  being  called  the  "evil  days  of  August." 4 

Abbott,   op.   cit.,   pp.    21,   63.  3W.    H.    D.    Rouse,    "Folklore 

The  Macedonians  observe  the  same  from  the  Southern  Sporades,"  Folk- 

restrictions    on    the    Wednesdays  lore,  1899,  x,  179. 
and  Fridays  of  these  two  months.  4  J.    C.   Lawson,   Modern   Greek 

2  Miss    Mary    Hamilton,    Greek  Folklore  and  Ancient  Greek  Religion, 

Saints    and   their    Festivals,    Edin-  Cambridge,  1910,  pp.  152  sq. 
burgh,  1910,  pp.  187  sq. 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  285 

11  these  taboos  thus  show  much  similarity,  relating  in 
particular  to  abstention  from  work  which  has  to  do  with 
water  or  with  vines  and  trees.  From  this  fact  it  becomes 
a  plausible  inference  that  the  unlucky  days  were  origi- 
nally sacred  to  the  tree-nymphs  and  water-nymphs, 
whose  festivals  were  celebrated  in  pagan  antiquity. 
At  the  present  time  the  days  are  associated  with  the 
drymais,  mysterious  spirits  supposed  to  be  abroad  on 
them,  and  probably  to  be  identified  with  the  dryads 
(S/avaSes)  of  classic  mythology. 

The  likeness  between  tabooed  days  as  periods  of 
abstinence  and  some  unlucky  days  may  be  further 
illustrated  by  much  ethnographic  evidence  drawn 
from  different  cultural  areas.  The  Maori,  we  are 
told,  endeavour  to  determine  by  divination  whether 
the  day  set  for  a  journey  is  favourable  or  unfavour- 
able. The  fisherman  is  hopeless  of  making  a  catch 
on  an  unfavourable  day.  At  such  a  time  "no  dress 
will  be  commenced,  no  seine  cast,  no  fish-hook  baited, 
no  ground  turned  up,  seed  sown,  distant  visit  made, 
flax  cut  or  dressed,  timber  cut,  canoe  formed,  or  even 
food  partaken  of."  1  The  Batta  of  Sumatra  possess 
elaborate  calendars  of  days  favourable,  unfavourable, 
and  of  a  doubtful  character ;  and  these  are  regularly 
consulted  by  the  Batta  magician  in  order  that  his 
clients  may  know  when  to  commence  any  important 
undertaking,  such  as  sowing  and  harvesting,  house- 
building, erection  of  a  new  village,  removal  to  another 
village,  preparation  of  sacrifices  at  birth,  name-giving, 
burial,  betrothal,  and  marriage,  and  all  other  great 
occasions.  A  day  may  be  wholly  unlucky  for  one 
thing,  but  not  for  another;  for  instance,  a  day  which 
could  not  safely  be  used  for  the  celebration  of  a  sacri- 
fice might  still  be  used  for  the  inauguration  of  agri- 
cultural labour.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  certain 
days,  indicated  in  the  calendars,  when  all  activity 
ceases,  except  the  entertainment  of  relatives  and  indis- 

1  J.  S.  Polack,  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  New  Ze dander st  London, 

1840,  i,  256. 


286  REST  DAYS 

pensable  harvest  work.  If  a  man  should  meet  with 
misfortune  on  one  of  these  fatal  days,  a  sacrifice  must 
be  offered  to  the  supernatural  power  supposed  to  be 
responsible  for  the  visitation.  The  Batta  calendar 
in  its  existing  form  is  derived  from  India,  but  the  people 
seem  formerly  to  have  possessed  their  own  rude  calen- 
dar, which  was  used  to  determine  the  lucky  and  un- 
lucky days  in  a  lunar  month.  Even  at  the  present 
time  the  calendar  is  not  employed  for  the  fixation  of 
dates  in  the  European  sense,  but  only  in  the  service  of 
popular  superstition.1 

The  Mohammedan  Malays  of  the  Malay  Peninsula 
possess  a  number  of  divinatory  calendars,  one  specify- 
ing seven  unlucky  days  in  every  month,  a  second, 
twelve  other  most  inauspicuous  days  in  every  year, 
while  a  third  gives  all  the  days  of  the  year  classified 
under  the  heads  lucky,  somewhat  unlucky,  most  un- 
lucky, and  neutral.2  Chinese  popular  calendars  set 
forth  a  similar  classification  of  the  days  of  the  month 
as  very  lucky,  neither  lucky  nor  unlucky,  unlucky,  and 
very  unlucky.3  Furthermore,  the  first,  fifth,  and 
ninth  months  are  considered  unfavourable  by  the 
Chinese,  who  will  not  marry  or  change  houses  during 

1  J.  Winkler,  "  Der  Kalender  der  In  China  there  is  also  the  state 
Toba-Bataks  auf  Sumatra,"  Zeit-  almanac,  which  is  annually  pre- 
schrift  fur  Ethnologic,  1913,  xlv,  pared  at  Pekin  under  the  direction 
436-447.  Among  the  Batta  of  a  bureau  attached  to  the  Board 
dwelling  inland  from  the  Bay  of  of  Rites.  By  making  it  a  penal 
Tapanuli  the  priest  or  magician,  offence  to  issue  a  counterfeit  or 
whose  duty  it  is  to  announce  pro-  pirated  edition  of  this  almanac,  the 
pitious  days,  is  a  most  important  government  astrologers  have  mo- 
functionary  in  every  village.  The  nopolized  the  management  of  the 
people  "will  not  engage  in  any  superstitions  of  the  people  in 
undertaking,  however  trifling,  or  regard  to  the  fortunate  or  unfortu- 
make  the  smallest  alteration  in  nate  conjunction  of  each  day  and 
their  domestic  economy,  without  hour.  "No  one  ventures  to  be 
first  consulting  him"  (Burton  and  without  an  almanac,  lest  he  be 
Ward,  in  Memoirs  o/  the  Royal  liable  to  the  greatest  misfortunes, 
Asiatic  Society,  1827,  i,  500).  and  run  the  imminent  hazard  of 

2W.  W.  Skeat,  Malay  Magic,  undertaking  important  events  on 

London,  1900,  p.  549.  black-balled  days"  (S.  W.  Williams, 

^  « N.  B.  Dennys,  The  Folk-lore  of  The  Middle  Kingdom?  New  York, 

China,  London,  1876,  pp.  30  sq.  1883,  ii,  79  sq.). 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  287 

these  months.1  In  Korea  the  fifth,  fifteenth,  and 
twenty-fifth  days  of  each  month  are  called  "broken 
days."  At  such  times  the  people  avoid  any  new 
undertakings.2  The  old  Japanese  are  said  to  have 
held  five  yearly  festivals  or  holidays,  "purposely  laid 
on  those  days,  which,  by  reason  of  their  imparity, 
are  judged  to  be  the  most  unfortunate."  These  were 
New  Year's  Day,  the  third  day  of  the  third  month, 
the  fifth  of  the  fifth  month,  the  seventh  of  the  seventh 
month,  and  the  ninth  of  the  ninth  month.3  In  modern 
Japan  the  cheap  popular  calendars,  circulating  among 
the  lower  classes,  contain  indications  for  every  day  of 
a  cycle  of  six  days.  Of  these,  the  first  is  described 
as  good  during  the  forenoon  for  urgent  business,  such 
as  lawsuits  and  petitions,  but  not  good  after  midday. 
The  second  is  good  in  the  forenoon  and  in  the  evening, 
but  not  in  the  afternoon.  The  first  half  of  the  third 
day  is  bad,  and  no  urgent  business  should  be  under- 
taken at  such  a  time;  the  afternoon,  however,  is 
lucky.  Nothing  done  on  the  fourth  day  will  prosper. 
The  fifth  day  is  very  lucky  for  anything,  especially 
removals  or  journeys.  With  the  exception  of  the  noon- 
tide hour  the  whole  of  the  sixth  day  is  unlucky.  This 
cycle  used  in  divination  flourishes  side  by  side  with 
the  week  of  seven  days.4 

The  Tibetans  are  great  astrologers.  In  every  monas- 
tery there  is  at  least  one  divining  lama  whose  business 
it  is  to  determine  propitious  and  unpropitious  times. 
Calendars  exist  for  all  the  days  of  the  month,  some  being 
described  as  "good,"  others  as  "middling,"  others  as 
"bad,"  while  one  is  referred  to  as  "not  very  good," 
and  still  another  as  "the  worst."  Among  the  causes 
of  the  luck  or  unluck  attaching  to  certain  days  the 
Tibetans  are  inclined  to  lay  stress  on  the  periodical 

1  H.  A.  Giles,  A  Glossary  of  Ref-  3  E.  Kaempfer,  History  of  Japan, 
erences  on   Subjects  connected  with      ii,  22  (Glasgow  reprint,  1906). 

the    Far    East,3    Shanghai,     1900,  4  A.  Lloyd,  "  Death  and  Disposal 

p.  183.  of  the  Dead  (Japanese),"  Hastings' s 

2  W.  E.  Griffis,  Corea,  the  Hermit  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics, 
Nation?  New  York,  1889,  p.  298.  iv,  486  n.1 


288  REST  DAYS 

migrations  of  the  spirits  inhabiting  the  regions  above 
the  earth.  It  seems  that  the  two  kinds  of  spirits,  good 
and  evil,  shift  their  abodes,  to  some  extent  every  day 
and  also  contemporaneously  with  the  phases  of  the 
moon,  the  commencement  of  a  new  season,  and  so  on. 
Their  migrations  are  performed  with  unequal  veloc- 
ity ;  hence,  the  combination  of  spirits  varies  for  every 
day.  If  the  good  spirits  are  more  numerous  than  the 
evil  spirits  on  a  particular  day,  the  time  will  be  favour- 
able for  any  undertaking ;  and  vice  versa.  This  belief, 
we  are  told,  offers  a  wide  field  of  intrigue  to  the  lamas, 
who  alone  are  able  to  decide  what  have  been  the  actual 
movements  of  the  spirits.1 

The  Toda,  who  dwell  in  permanent  villages  on  the 
plateaus  of  the  Nilgiri  Hills  in  southeastern  .India, 
have  a  remarkable  system  of  rest  days  deserving  to  be 
described  at  some  length.  The  social  organization 
of  this  interesting  people  consists  of  two  endogamous 
divisions,  called  Teivaliol  and  Tartharol.  Each  of 
these  primary  sections  is  composed  of  intermarrying 
clans,  and  each  clan  possesses  a  group  of  villages  in 
common.  At  the  present  time  Toda  interests,  both 
economic  and  religious,  centre  about  their  buffaloes. 
The  daily  life  of  the  Toda  men  is  largely  devoted  to  the 
care  of  these  animals  and  to  labour  in  the  dairies. 
The  buffalo  is  a  sacred  animal ;  the  dairy  itself  is 
almost  a  temple ;  and  the  dairyman  is  only  one  remove 
from  a  priest.  Toda  religious  rites  seem  to  be,  in  fact, 
little  more  than  the  arrangements  which  a  pastoral 
and  communistic  people  have  made  for  the  provision 
and  care  of  an  article  of  food.  According  to  Dr. 
Rivers,  whose  careful  studies  are  a  model  of  anthropo- 
logical investigation,  nearly  every  Toda  ceremony  has 
its  appointed  day  or  days.  The  choice  of  these  "is 
often  dependent  on  another  Toda  institution,  the  sacred 
day,  either  of  the  village  or  of  the  dairy.  Every  clan 
has  certain  days  of  the  week  on  which  people  are 

1  E.  Schlaginweit,  Buddhism  in  Tibet,  Leipzig  and  London,  1863,  pp. 

293  sqq. 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  289 

restricted  from  following  many  of  their  ordinary  occu- 
pations, although  they  are  not  the  occasions  of  any 
special  ceremonies.  These  sacred  days  are  the  madnol, 
or  village  day,  and  the  palinol,  or  dairy  day."  1 

Each  Toda  village  has  its  madnol,  but,  in  general, 
where  there  are  several  villages  of  the  same  clan,  the 
madnol  is  the  same  for  the  whole  clan.  There  are  at 
least  eight  prohibitions  characterizing  the  observance 
of  this  sacred  day.  Feasts  may  not  be  given  at  such 
a  time,  funeral  ceremonies  may  not  be  performed, 
people  may  not  bathe  or  cut  their  nails,  and  men  may 
not  shave.  Clothes  are  not  to  be  washed,  the  house 
is  not  to  be  cleansed,  and,  though  the  ordinary  meals 
may  be  prepared,  rice  and  milk  must  not  be  cooked 
together.  Other  regulations  forbid  the  dairyman  to 
leave  the  village,  the  buffaloes  to  be  taken  from  one 
place  to  another,  or  the  people  to  migrate  from  one 
village  to  another.2  Though  not  all  work  is  prohibited, 
the  regulations  are  extensive  enough  to  affect  most 
of  the  customary  occupations.  Among  the  Teivaliol, 
one  of  the  two  endogamous  divisions  of  the  Toda 
people,  the  madnol  is  the  only  sacred  day  of  the  week. 
With  the  other  division,  called  Tartharol,  there  is 
also  a  dairy  day,  or  palinol,  the  regulations  for  which 
have  much  the  same  character  as  for  the  madnol. 

Toda  ingenuity  has  devised  recognized  methods  of 
evading  the  rules  for  the  holy  days,  and  so  of  avoiding 
the  inconvenience  which  might  otherwise  be  entailed 
on  the  people.  The  rule  that  nothing  may  be  taken 
from  the  village  on  the  madnol  would  prevent  any  pur- 
chases from  outsiders  being  made  on  the  holy  day, 
since  money  would  have  to  pass  out  of  the  village  in 
payment.  The  Toda  avoid  this  awkward  consequence 
by  the  simple  device  of  taking  money  beyond  the  vil- 
lage limits  on  the  day  before  the  madnol  and  burying 
it  in  some  spot  where  it  can  be  found  when  wanted. 
The  rule  forbidding  Toda  women  to  leave  the  village 

1  W.  H.  R.  Rivers,   The   Todasy  2  Ibid.,  pp.  405  sq. 

London,  1906,  p.  405. 

u 


29o  REST  DAYS 

on  the  madnol  is  evaded  in  a  curious  fashion.  A  woman 
will  depart  from  the  settlement  before  daybreak,  will 
remain  outside  till  the  sun  is  up,  and  will  then  return 
to  her  home,  for  breakfast  and  the  performance  of 
any  necessary  work.  During  this  time  she  is  regarded 
as  ceremonially  absent  from  the  village,  hence  her 
actual  departure  later  in  the  day  for  another  village 
is  not  considered  to  be  a  desecration  of  the  madnol. 
With  these  possibilities  of  evasion  open  to  the  pious 
Toda,  it  follows  that  the  regulations  are  seldom  broken, 
in  the  letter  if  not  in  the  spirit.  When  a  breach  of 
them  does  occur,  the  culprit  may  be  obliged  to  perform 
a  propitiatory  sacrifice  similar  to  that  which  follows 
the  commission  of  various  other  ceremonial  sins. 
"It  seemed  quite  clear,  however,  that  this  only  hap- 
pened if  some  misfortune  should  befall  the  offender, 
his  family,  or  his  buffaloes.  It  would  seem  that  a 
man  might  habitually  and  notoriously  desecrate  the 
madnol,  but  no  steps  would  be  taken  by  himself  or  the 
community  so  long  as  things  went  well  with  the  man. 
If  he  should  become  ill  or  if  his  buffaloes  should  suffer 
in  any  way,  he  would  consult  the  diviners  and  they 
would  then  certainly  find  that  his  misfortunes  were 
due  to  his  infringement  of  the  laws  connected  with  the 
sacred  days."  * 

There  is  much  variety  in  the  days  observed  as  the 
madnol  or  the  palinol  of  the  different  villages  and  clans. 
The  most  frequent  days  appear  to  be  Wednesday  and 
Friday,  which  are  sacred  in  six  clans.  Sunday  is 
sacred  in  five  clans,  Monday  and  Tuesday  in  three, 
Thursday  in  two.  In  no  clan  does  Saturday  appear 
to  be  kept  as  a  holy  day.2 

The  origin  of  these  sacred  days  among  the  Toda  is 
very  obscure.  Dr.  Rivers  first  suggests  the  possibility 
of  the  institution  of  madnol  and  palinol  having  grown  out 
of  the  belief  in  unlucky  days.  The  code  of  rules  pre- 
scribing what  might  and  what  might  not  be  done  would 
then  be  only  an  elaboration  of  the  common  supersti- 

1  Rivers,  Todas,  p.  407.  2  Ibid.,  p.  408. 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  291 

tion  which  restricts  activity  at  such  unlucky  periods. 
But  there  are  several  difficulties  in  the  way  of  this 
view.  It  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  the  Toda 
has  any  such  belief  in  days  lucky  and  unlucky,1  and  if 
he  has,  the  idea  is  probably  a  recent  importation  from 
the  Hindus,  among  whom  the  superstition  is  very 
prevalent.  Again,  the  distinction  between  madnol 
and  palinol  is  one  which  cannot  be  satisfactorily  ex- 
plained by  such  a  hypothesis.  Finally,  the  different 
clans  of  the  Toda  have  different  sacred  days,  whereas 
one  would  expect  lucky  and  unlucky  days  to  be  the 
same  for  the  entire  community.  This  seems  espe- 
cially reasonable  when  it  is  considered  that  the  sacred 
days,  by  restricting  intercourse  between  the  different 
clans,  produce  much  inconvenience,  which,  of  course, 
is  increased  by  the  fact  that  the  different  clans  have 
different  madnol.  Whatever  be  the  origin  of  these 
Toda  rules,  there  is,  writes  Dr.  Rivers,  "little  doubt 
that  when  at  the  present  time  a  given  act  is  done  or 
not  done  on  a  given  day,  the  action  is  not  based  on  a 
belief  in  lucky  or  unlucky  days,  but,  as  nearly  always 
among  the  Toda,  on  custom  prescribing  that  the  act 
shall  or  shall  not  be  done  on  that  day." 

The  question  may  be  raised  whether  the  resemblance 
of  the  Toda  madnol  to  the  Hebrew  Sabbath  is  not 
accounted  for  by  supposing  the  former  institution  to 
have  been  founded  on  ideas  borrowed  from  Christians 
or  Jews.  If  this  has  been  the  case,  it  is  certain  that 
the  borrowing  took  place  very  long  ago.  In  studying 
the  origin  and  history  of  the  Toda  we  have  no  record 
that  reaches  back  more  than  three  centuries.  From 
various  close  resemblances  between  the  Toda  customs 
and  those  of  the  people  of  Malabar,  Dr.  Rivers  thinks 
it  probable  that  the  Toda  at  one  time  lived  in  Malabar, 
migrating  thence  to  the  Nilgiri  Hills.  Both  Chris- 

1  See  ibid.,  p.  411,  for  a  refer-  nal  of  Anthropology,  1870,  i,  33  sq.) 

ence  to  certain  restrictions  which  expressly   attributes   this   supersti- 

may  have  arisen  out  of  a  belief  in  tion  to  the  Toda. 

unlucky  days.     W.  R.  King  (Jour-  2  Rivers,  Todas,  pp.  410  sq. 


292  REST  DAYS 

tians  and  Jews  were  well  established  in  Malabar  more 
than  a  thousand  years  ago.  If  the  Toda  left  Malabar 
before  these  settlements  of  foreigners  were  made, 
then  Jewish  or  Christian  influences  can  be  excluded ; 
if  the  migration  took  place  subsequently,  then  they 
may  have  contributed  to  the  development  of  the  Toda 
institution.1 

In  spite  of  these  considerations,  Dr.  Rivers  is  inclined 
to  consider  the  Toda  madnol  as  substantially  a  native 
institution,  which  may  help  to  explain  the  origin  of 
the  Hebrew  Sabbath.  "In  a  busier  community  than 
that  of  the  Toda,  the  existence  of  different  madnol  for 
different  clans  of  the  community  would  soon  become 
a  serious  obstacle  to  carrying  on  the  business  of  life, 
and  such  a  community  would  probably  agree  that  all 
clans  should  have  the  same  holy  day.  At  present  the 
madnol  is  undoubtedly  more  sacred  than  the  other 
sacred  days,  and  if  the  latter  were  then  to  be  neglected, 
we  should  have  a  community  in  which  various  activ- 
ities were  prohibited  on  one  day  of  the  week,  and  the 
institution  so  arising  would  differ  very  little  from  the 
Hebrew  Sabbath.  It  is  possible  that  the  Toda  show 
in  an  early  stage  the  institution  of  a  Sabbath  in  which 
the  whole  community  has  not  yet  settled  on  a  single 
and  joint  holy  day."  2  The  fact  that  the  Toda  employ 
the  seven-day  week,  which  must  be  entirely  a  borrowed 
institution  with  them,  suggests,  however,  that  the  prohi- 
bitions attaching  to  certain  days  of  that  week  were 
ultimately  derived  from  foreign  sources.3 

1  Rivers,  Todas,  pp.  459,  695  sqq.,  fasts   and    festivals,  though  under 
710  sq.  Indian    names    and    with    Indian 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  411  sq.  features  superadded.     Their  habit 

3  These  Toda  taboos  suggest  at  of  observing  Saturday  as  a  Sab- 
once  the  Jewish  Sabbatarian  regu-  bath  and  of  giving  their  oxen  rest 
lations  and  the  methods  of  evading  from  the  oil-mills  on  that  day  has 
or  mitigating  them  devised  by  the  gained     for     them     among     their 
rabbis  (above,  p.  264).     Until  the  Hindu  neighbours  the  name  of  "the 
present  day  the  Bene-Israel,  a  body  Saturday   oil-men  "    (J.    H.   Lord, 
of  Jews  domiciled  for  many  cen-  "Bene-Israel,"  Hastings's  Encyclo~ 
turies  in  the  Bombay  Presidency,  pezdia    of  Religion    and   Ethics,    ii, 
have    preserved    the    old    Hebrew  470  sq.). 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  293 

Another  curious  instance  of  communal  rest  days 
is  found  among  the  Siah  Posh  Kafirs,  a  primitive 
Aryan  people  dwelling  in  the  northeastern  part  of 
Afghanistan,  between  Chitral  and  the  Hindu-Kush. 
They  seem  formerly  to  have  occupied  a  more  extended 
area  about  the  headwaters  of  the  Indus.  The  con- 
version of  the  surrounding  tribes,  first  to  Buddhism 
and  later  to  Mohammedanism,  has  further  served 
to  isolate  them.  With  the  Afghans  on  the  west  their 
enmity  is  deadly  and  unceasing,  but  their  relations 
with  their  eastern  neighbours  admit  of  friendly  inter- 
course. It  is  on  this  side,  therefore,  that  we  must 
look  for  the  introduction  into  Kafiristan  of  Indian 
cultural  elements,  among  which  is  the  seven-day  week.1 
On  certain  weekdays  the  Siah  Posh  Kafirs  rest  from 
work.  Young  and  old  gather  in  large  buildings  erected 
in  the  centre  of  the  villages  and  here  they  dance  all  night, 
to  the  music  of  flutes  and  trumpets,  and  sing  songs  in 
honour  of  the  gods.2  According  to  a  later  and  fuller 
account,  the  Kafir  rest  days  are  called  agar;  in  some 
districts  they  occur  every  Thursday,  in  other  districts, 
every  Saturday,  but  only  during  the  months  from 
April  to  September,  when  field  work  is  in  progress. 
The  agar  appear  to  be  rigorously  observed  by  the  male 
inhabitants  of  a  village,  but  the  women,  who  stop  their 
field-work  on  these  days,  do  not  scruple  to  engage  in 
other  coolie  labour  during  their  continuance.  "  I  failed," 
writes  our  authority,  "to  discover  anything  concerning 
the  origin  of  these  agar.  Their  observance  may  have 
become  a  national  custom,  the  origin  of  which  is  as 
difficult  to  determine  as  the  Sabbaths  of  other  ancient 
peoples.  As  the  Kam  people  were  averse  to  starting 
on  a  journey  on  the  agar  days,  and  as  all  the  women 
left  their  field-work  altogether  on  those  occasions,  it 

1  The  week  of  seven  days,  with  cutta,  1880,  p.  93 ;   G.  W.  Leitner, 

names  derived  from  the  Sanskrit,  The    Hunza     and    Nagyr    Hand- 

appears  to   have  been  introduced  book,2  Woking,  1893,  p.  16. 

by  the  Shins  into  Dardistan  and  2  H.     Roskoschny,    Afghanistan 

western  Kashmir.     See  J.  Biddulf,  und  seine  Nachbarldnder,  Leipzig, 

Tribes   of  the   Hindoo-Koosh,   Cal-  1885,  i,  174. 


294  REST  DAYS 

is  possible  that  the  agar  was  originally  considered  an 
unlucky  day."  l 

Perhaps  no  people  have  subjected  themselves  to 
more  irksome  restrictions  on  unlucky  days  than  the 
natives  of  Madagascar.  In  this  island  systems  of 
taboo  are  widespread  and  elaborate,  even  at  the  present 
time.  The  termfady  (or  tabu),  used  for  all  objects  and 
persons  tabooed,  is  likewise  applied  by  the  Malagasy 
to  unfavourable  days  and  months,  the  quality  of  such 
periods  as  dangerous  or  unlucky  being  considered  trans- 
missible to  beings  and  actions.2  By  the  Hova,  a  people 
of  remote,  perhaps  prehistoric,  Malay  origin,  now  occu- 
pying the  central  tableland  of  Madagascar,  only  twelve 
days  in  the  month  were  regarded  as  lucky.  The  first 
days  of  some  months  possessed  a  most  disastrous  char- 
acter, and  children  born  on  them  were  usually  put  to 
death.  The  same  cruel  practice  was  found  among  other 
tribes,  such  as  the  Bara  and  Tanala,  leading,  in  the 
latter  case,  to  the  destruction  of  at  least  one-fourth  of 
all  the  infants  born.3  The  Tanala  consider  one  of  the 
months,  called  faosa,  extremely  unlucky.  "No  one 
works  in  that  month,  no  one  changes  his  place  of  abode 
or  goes  about.  If  any  one  happens  to  be  in  the  fields 

1  Sir    G.     S.     Robertson,     The  Masikoro,  an  inland  branch  of  the 
Kafirs  of  the  Hindu-Kush,  London,  Sakalava  tribe.     Many  Vezo  (coast 
1896,  pp.  579  sq.  Sakalava)  families  continue  to  ex- 

2  A.     van     Gennep,     Tabou     et  pose  a  child  born  on  an  unlucky 
totemisme     a     Madagascar,     Paris,  day,  but  it  is  afterwards  rescued 
1904,  p.   199.     The  Malagasy  be-  and  brought  up  by  the  relatives  as 
lief  in  lucky  and  unlucky  days,  as  their     own.     "Such     a     child     is, 
determined  by  the  moon  stations  however,   looked   upon  with   some 
(above,   p.   275),  appears  to   be   a  suspicion   as   to   what   will   be   its 
direct  importation  from  the  Arabs  character,    because   of   its    having 
superimposed    on    an    earlier    and  been  born  on  an  unlucky  day.     It 
thoroughly    native    observance    of  is  thought  that  it  may  bring  some 
tabooed    seasons.     The    Malagasy  calamity  upon  the  family,  or  may 
have  also  taken  over  from  Islam  itself  be  miserable  or  unfortunate 
the   week   of  seven   days    (above,  in  one  way  or  another,  when  grown 
p.  197).  up.     It  is  a  very  common  opinion 

3J.    Sibree,    "Malagasy    Folk-  that  bad  conduct  is  only  the  result 

lore    and    Popular    Superstitions,'*  of  being  born  on  an  unlucky  day" 

Folk-lore   Record,    1879,    ii,    30-33.  (A.  Walen,  in  Antananarivo  Annual, 

The  custom  still  exists  among  the  1883,  no.  7,  pp.  51  sq.). 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  295 

when  the  month  comes  in,  there  he  remains."  1  The 
Sihanaka  keep  Tuesday  as  an  unlucky  day  on  which 
no  work  is  allowed  in  the  fields.  Each  Sihanaka  family, 
in  addition,  inherits  a  special  unlucky  day  in  each 
week,  when  it  is  not  permissible  to  go  outside  the  house.2 
The  Sakalava  likewise  abstain  from  all  business  and 
remain  strictly  in  seclusion  on  their  unlucky  days, 
which  belong  both  to  families  and  to  individuals.3 
Among  the  Betsimisaraka  each  person  has  his  unlucky 
day  when  he  does  not  work ;  in  fact,  he  can  do  nothing 
at  this  time  except  eat,  drink,  sleep,  and  dress  his  hair. 
Since  the  introduction  of  Christianity  the  day  kept 
in  this  strict  fashion  is  Sunday.4 

These  accounts  of  lucky  and  unlucky  days  observed 
by  half-civilized  peoples  at  the  present  time  throw 
light  on  the  references  to  the  same  superstition  found 
in  the  records  of  archaic  civilizations.  For  Egypt 
we  have  the  evidence  of  several  ancient  calendars 
preserved  in  papyrus  manuscripts.  The  first  of  these 
dates  from  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  (about  2000  B.C.) 
and  includes  all  the  days  of  the  month,  eighteen  being 
defined  as  "good,"  nine  as  "bad,"  and  three  (the 
sixteenth,  twenty-second,  and  twenty-third),  as  "half- 
good"  and  "half-bad."  The  primitive  character  of 
this  calendar  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  same 
prognostics  are  attached  to  the  same  days  of  the  month 
throughout  the  year.  The  second  calendar,  dating 
from  about  1000  B.C.,  is  more  complicated,  since  the 
prognostics  of  the  several  days  are  unlike  in  the  dif- 
ferent months,  while  each  day  is  itself  divided  into 
three  parts,  lucky,  unlucky,  and  neutral.  Neither 
calendar  contains  mention  of  the  five  epagomenal 
days.5 

1  J.  Sibree,  loc.  cit.  4  A.   van  Gennep,   op.  cit.,  pp. 

2  A.  van  Gennep,  op.  cit.,  p.  203  ;       202  sq. 

Antananarivo  Annual,  1891,  no.  15,  5  The  two  manuscripts  (both  in 

pp.  302  sq.  the    British    Museum)    have   been 

3  V.    Noel,    in    Bulletin    de    la  edited,  respectively,  by  F.  L.  Grif- 
fociete  de  geographie,   1843,  second  fith   (Hieratic  Papyri  from  Kahun 
series,  xx,  71.  and  Gurob,  London,   1898,  pi.  25 


296  REST  DAYS 

The  third  and  best-known  of  these  Egyptian  calen- 
dars is  the  Papyrus  Saltier  IV,  which  in  its  present 
form  belongs  to  about  1200  B.C.  but  is  based  on  much 
earlier  documents.1  Parts  of  the  manuscript  at  the 
beginning  and  end  have  been  lost,  so  that  it  now  con- 
tains prognostics  for  only  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  days  of  the  year.  This  interesting  production 
of  ancient  though  misdirected  learning  divides  the  hours 
between  the  rising  and  the  setting  of  the  sun  into  three 
periods,  each  of  which  is  ruled  by  its  particular  influ- 
ence. Some  days  were  good  throughout  the  three 
periods,  some  were  wholly  bad,  others  were  critical 
—  dubium  sed  in  malum  vergens  —  while  others  again 
presented  combinations  of  these  three  characteristics. 
The  following  are  typical  regulations,  arranged  ac- 
cording to  the  order  of  the  Egyptian  months.2  22 
Thoth  :  eat  no  fish  and  light  no  oil  lamp.  23  Thoth  : 
put  no  incense  on  the  fire;  kill  no  animals,  domestic 
or  wild  ;  eat  neither  a  goose  nor  a  goat.  A  child  born 
on  this  day  will  amount  to  nothing.  26  Thoth  :  do 
nothing  on  this  day.  4  Paophi  :  do  not  go  out  of  the 
house.  5  Paophi  :  do  not  go  out  of  the  house  ;  do 

text,  p.  62  ;  and  E.  A.  W.  Budge,  and  Wreszinski  (loc.  cit.)  translates 

Facsimiles    of    Egyptian    Hieratic  directly   from   the   Egyptian   text. 

Papyri,  London,  1911,  pis.  31-32).  For  discussions  of  this  important 

See  further  W.  Wreszinski,  "Tage-  document    see    Sir    G.    Maspero, 

wahlerei  im  alten  Agypten,"  Archiv  Etudes  egyptiennes,  Paris,   1886,  i, 

fur  Religionswissenschaft,  1913,  xvi,  29  sq.j   idem,  Les  conies  populaires 

86-100.  de  I'Egypte  ancienne,3  Paris,  1905, 

1  The    text    was    published    in  pp.   xlix-lii  ;     idem,  New  Light  on 

Select  Papyri  in  the  Hieratic  Char-  Ancient     Egypt,2     London,     1909, 


acter,  London,  1844,  pt.  i,  pis.  144-      pp.   128-136;    A.   Erman,  Life  in 

F.  J. 

jour 

egyp 
tienne,    Chalon-s.-S.,     1870).     The      London,  1897,  pp.  263  sqq.;   E.  A. 


ps.  144- 

168,  and  was  translated  by  F.  J.  Ancient     Egypt,     London,      1894, 

Chabas    (Le    calendrier    des   jours  pp.  351  sq.;    A.  Wiedemann,   The 

jastes  et   nefastes  de  I'annee   egyp-  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians, 


work    of    Chabas    was    masterly,  W.  Budge,  Egyptian  Magic,2  Lon- 

but  it  has  now  become  antiquated  don,  1901,  pp.  224  sqq.;    G.  Fou- 

by  the  progress  of  Egyptology.     F.  cart,  "Calendar  (Egyptian),"  Hast- 

Bohn  (Der  Sabbat  im  Alten   Testa-  ings's  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and 

ment,  Giitersloh,  1903,  pp.  57-62)  Ethics,  iii,  100  sq. 

gives  a  revised  and  corrected  ver-  2  W.  Wreszinski,  in   Archiv  fur 

sion  of  numerous  passages,  based  Religionswissenschaft,      1913,     xvi, 

on  the  studies  of  Professor  Sethe,  89  sqq. 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  297 

not  have  intercourse  with  a  woman.  22  Paophi :  do 
not  wash  and  do  not  approach  a  stream.  19  Athyr: 
light  no  fire.  6  Mechir  :  do  no  work.  13  Pharmuthi : 
do  not  go  anywhere.  In  the  calendar  as  a  whole  the 
most  frequent  injunctions  relate  to  quitting  the  house, 
travelling,  sailing,  and  undertaking  any  kind  of  work. 
Next  in  number  are  the  prohibitions  of  loud  talking, 
singing,  and  sexual  intercourse.  There  are  also  pro- 
hibitions of  drinking,  bathing,  and  killing  or  eating 
certain  animals,  besides  others  directed  against  the 
use  of  fire  and  lights.  It  is  clear  that  in  this  curious 
treatise  we  have  a  systematization  of  popular  taboos  re- 
lating to  the  lucky  or  unlucky  character  of  certain  days. 
The  fact  that  it  was  used  as  a  boy's  schoolbook  indicates 
how  priestly  influence  had  erected  into  a  pseudo-science 
the  uncouth  and  childish  superstitions  of  the  multitude. 
The  calendar  itself  presents  evidence  that  the  priests  had 
begun  to  rationalize  the  taboos,  for  the  prohibitions  are 
often  accompanied  by  a  summary  of  the  motives  which 
justified  them,  usually  legendary  episodes  of  the  gods. 
For  instance,  the  regulation  for  the  twenty-sixth  of 
Thoth  -  "do  absolutely  nothing"  —  is  explained  by  a 
reference  to  the  terrific  combat  between  Horus  and  his 
uncle  Set,  which  occurred  on  this  ill-omened  day.1 

The  Babylonian  augural  calendar  for  the  interca- 
lated month  of  Elul  and  for  Markheshwan  is  not  the 
only  example  of  omen  literature  to  be  found  in  the 
cuneiform  records.  We  possess  a  document,  preserved 
in  great  part,  which  includes  every  day  in  the  year, 
either  specifying  its  nature  as  favourable  or  unfavour- 
able or  adding  other  indications  with  regard  to  its 
character.  A  note  like  "hostility,"  appended  to  the 
twenty-first  day  of  the  second  month,  is  a  warning 
that  the  gods  are  out  of  humour  on  that  day;  the 
twenty-third  day,  described  as  "heart  not  good,"  is 
explained  by  the  contrast  "heart  glad"  on  the  follow- 
ing day.  Not  content  with  a  simple  distinction  of 

1  Chabas,  op.  cit.t  p.  28;  Wreszinski,  in  Archiv  fur  Religionswissenschaft, 
1913,  xvi,  92  sq. 


298  REST  DAYS 

favourableness  and  unfavourableness,  the  calendar 
also  deals  with  days  "wholly  favourable"  and  "half 
favourable."  Still  other  days  are  noted  as  those  por- 
tending "distress,"  "trouble,"  "tears,"  "injury," 
"darkness,"  "moon  obscured,"  and  the  like.  The  pre- 
cautions and  prohibitions  set  forth  for  unlucky  days 
include,  among  many  others,  the  familiar  taboos  of 
eating  specified  foods,  such  as  swine's  flesh,  beef,  dates, 
and  fish,  sexual  intercourse,  buying  and  selling,  wearing 
bright  garments,  travelling,  holding  law  courts,  and 
so  on.  The  calendar  contains  a  number  of  references 
to  the  king  and  may,  very  probably,  have  served  the 
priests  in  their  instructions  to  the  monarch.  As 
Professor  Jastrow  remarks,  the  belief  in  lucky  and 
unlucky  days  has  a  distinctly  popular  flavour,  making 
it  probable  that  the  priests  embodied  in  their  lists 
many  of  the  notions  that  arose  among  the  people,  and 
gave  to  these  an  official  sanction.1 

The  Greeks  of  Hesiod's  time  possessed  an  elaborate 
calendar  of  lucky  and  unlucky  days.2  "Sometimes 
a  day  is  a  stepmother,  sometimes  a  mother,"  Hesiod 
remarks  pithily.  What  ancient  regulations  for  the 
observance  of  tabooed  periods  are  embodied  in  the 
calendar  is  problematical.  Many  of  the  prohibitions 
with  which  the  first  part  of  the  poem  concludes  are, 
however,  thoroughly  primitive  taboos.3  Hesiod  does 

1  Rawlinson,  Cuneiform  Inscrip-  tains  the  injunction   that  on   the 

tions  of  Western  Asia,  v,  pis.  48,  49;  fifth  day  of  Nisan  "he  who  fears 

Jastrow,  Religion  of  Babylonia  and  Marduk  or  Sarpanit  shall  not  go 

Assyria,   pp.   379  sqq.,  Bohn,  Der  out  to  work/'     On  the  Babylonian 

Sabbat  im  Alien  Testament,  pp.  55  nubattu  see  above,  p.  241  n.1 

sqq.     A  Babylonian  tablet  (K.  98),  2  Opera  et  dies,  765-828.     On  the 

published      by      Professor      Sayce  Hesiodic  calendar  see  E.  E.  Sikes, 

(Zeitschrift  fur  Assyriologie,   1887,  "Folk-lore  in  the  Works  and  Days 

">  333~335)>  gives  a  list  of  days  on  of  Hesiod,"  Classical  Review,  1893, 

which  it  was  fortunate  to  undertake  vii,  389-394,  and  the  Addenda  to 

such    operations    as    "staking    the  Professor  A.  W.  Mair's  admirable 

canal,"  "thinning  the  plantation,"  version  of  Hesiod,  Oxford,  1908,  pp. 

and  "sinking  the  foundations  of  a  162-166.     For  a  full  analysis  of  the 

house."     Still   another   text,   pub-  calendar  see  A.  Mommsen,  Chrono- 

lished    by    Dr.    Stephen    Langdon  logie,  Leipzig,  1883,  pp.  39-46. 

{Expository    1909,   xxii,    156),   con-  3  Opera  et  dies,  724-764. 


UNLUCKY  DAYS  299 

not  mention  any  days  when  labour  is  to  be  entirely 
abandoned.  We  may  assume,  perhaps,  that  at  the 
period  when  the  Hesiodic  poems  were  composed  the 
rationalizing  temper  of  the  Greeks  had  gotten  some- 
what the  better  of  their  superstitious  fears.  In  the 
Hesiodic  list,  as  in  the  Egyptian  and  Babylonian 
calendars,  the  notion  appears  that  not  only  whole 
days  but  even  parts  of  days  have  an  individual  charac- 
ter, working  for  good  or  evil.  The  middle  ninth  (the 
nineteenth)  is  said  to  be  "a  better  day  toward  after- 
noon." The  "  fourth  which  followeth  the  twentieth 
of  the  month  is  the  best  at  dawn,  but  it  is  worse  toward 
afternoon."  Hesiod  does  not  distinguish  the  months 
as  lucky  or  unlucky,  and  the  days  which  possess  either 
of  these  attributes  are  the  same  for  every  month.  He 
gives  no  explanation  for  their  luckiness  or  unluckiness, 
though  traces  of  a  rationalizing  process  are  perhaps 
observable  in  the  directions  regarding  the  "fifths" 
(presumably  the  fifth,  fifteenth,  and  twenty-fifth 
days),  which  are  specially  unlucky  "because  on  the 
fifth  men  say  the  Erinyes  attended  the  birth  of  Oath 
(Horkos),  whom  Strife  bare  to  punish  perjurers." 
The  seventh  again  is  lucky,  "for  on  that  day  Leto  bare 
Apollo  of  the  Golden  Sword."  1  The  Hesiodic  injunc- 
tions did  not  cease  to  be  observed  in  the  later  classical 
epoch  and  exercised  great  influence  on  civil  and  polit- 
ical life.  The  superstitions  relating  to  unlucky  days 
only  gained  a  firmer  foothold,  under  the  influence  of 
Babylonian  and  Egyptian  doctrines,  in  passing  from 
Greece  to  Rome  and  from  Rome  to  western  Europe.2 

During  the  Middle  Ages  perhaps  the  most  widespread 
observance  of  unlucky  days  had  to  do  with  those  which 
went  under  the  significant  name  of  dies  JEgypiiaci. 
The  prohibitions  marking  them  —  not  to  build  a  house, 


.y  810,  820,  802  sqq.y  770.  intimate  knowledge  of  the  farmer's 

2  The  Vergilian  calendar  (Geor-  life,  incorporated  in  his  catalogue 

gica,y   i,  276  sqq.)  is   obviously  an  of  lucky  and  unlucky  days  some  or 

imitation  of  Hesiod's,  but  it  may  the  peasant  lore  of  ancient  Italy. 
be  presumed  that  Vergil,  with  his 


300  REST  DAYS 

not  to  buy  or  sell,  not  to  cut  hair,  beard,  and  nails, 
and  so  on  —  possessed,  however,  no  character  specifi- 
cally Egyptian.  The  mediaeval  belief  was  that  these 
days  received  their  designation  because  on  one  of  them 
the  plagues  had  been  sent  to  devastate  the  land 
of  Egypt,  and  on  another  Pharaoh  and  his  host  had 
been  swallowed  up  in  the  Red  Sea.  As  early  as  the 
fourth  century  A.D.  Christian  writers  refer  to  "Egyptian 
days"  as  times  feared  and  avoided  by  both  pagans 
and  converts  to  Christianity.1  About  this  period  the 
superstition  gained  admittance  to  the  state  calendars. 
In  the  fasti  Philocali  (354  A.D.),  twenty-five  dies  JEgyp- 
tiaci  are  reckoned,  two  in  each  month  except  January, 
which  contains  three.2  A  mediaeval  French  manuscript, 
dating  from  the  reign  of  St.  Louis,  includes  twenty- 
four  such  days,  but  another  manuscript,  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  enumerates  thirty  days  of  the  year 
as  very  dangerous,  when  it  is  necessary  to  abstain 
from  buying  and  selling,  building,  and  planting.  Still 
another  manuscript,  of  the  fifteenth  century,  reckons 
thirty-one  wholly  evil  days,  while  certain  hours  of 
other  days  also  possess  dangerous  qualities.3  In  the 
seventeenth  century  J.  B.  Thiers,  the  learned  cure  of 
Vibraie,  notices  the  "Egyptian  days"  in  his  extensive 
list  of  the  superstitious  beliefs  regarding  certain  times 
and  seasons,  prevalent  in  his  age  but  condemned  by 
theologians  (St.  Thomas  Aquinas),  popes  (Nicholas  I), 
and  Church  synods  and  councils.4  Anglo-Saxon  calen- 

1  Augustine,  In  comm.  ad  Pauliep.  In  quibus  una  solet  mortalibus  hora 

ad  Galatas,  4;    Ambrose,  Epist.  i,  timeri. 

23 ;  compare  Marinus,  Vita  Prodi*  IQ.  ,  T     A  /r  i      i    « /-.  i      i  •      r 

^  Corpus    inscriptionum    Latina-  .' L;  MolaP<?>  "Calendner  fran- 

rum,  i,  pt.   i,»   256,   297,   with   T.  ?ais    du    treizleme    siecle,      Revue 

Mommsen's        commentary.     The  ^cheologique,    1862,    n.s.,    v,    103 

anonymous  author  of  the  Versus  de  s^' .  T    ™    -™  • 

diebus     Agyptiacis     (Poeta     latini  .    J'  ?'  Jhiers,  Traite  des  super- 

minores,  ed.  A.  Baehrens,  v,  354-  ««*ons>*    Pans,    I74\i>    W    sq. 

356)     reduces     their     number     to  S/,e     ,fu«her,    K,a/!     Meyer,     Der 

twenty-four-  Aberglaube   des   Mittelalters,    Basel, 

1884,    p.    210;     Du    Cange,    Glos* 

Bis  deni  binique  dies  scribuntur  in  sarium  medics  et  infima  latinitatis, 

anno,  ed.  Favre,  iii,  106  sq. 


UNLUCKY  DAYS 


301 


dars  mention  about  twenty-four  "Egyptian  days"  in 
the  year,  when  it  is  dangerous,  if  not  fatal,  to  begin  an 
enterprise  or  to  travel.  A  manuscript  calendar,  dating 
from  the  reign  of  Henry  VI,  gives  a  list  of  thirty-two 
such  days.  After  the  Reformation  the  old  unlucky 
days  appear  to  have  abated  much  of  their  malevo- 
lence, and  to  have  left  behind  them  only  a  general 
superstition  against  fishermen  starting  out  to  fish,  or 
seamen  to  take  a  voyage,  or  landsmen  a  journey,  or 
domestic  servants  to  enter  a  new  place  —  on  a  Friday.1 

1  Chambers's  Book  of  Days,  i,  42.  Unlucky"  (Miscellanies  upon  Vari- 

See  also  O.  Cockayne,  Leechdoms,  ous  Subjects ,  London,  1784,  pp.  3- 

Wortcunning,  and  Starcraft  of  Early  36).     Some  rules  concerning  "peril- 

Englandy  London,    1866,   iii,   150-  ous    days"   are   reprinted    by   Sir 

197,    and    John    Aubrey's    quaint  Lawrence  Gomme  from  a  fifteenth 

essay  on  "Day-fatality;   or,  Some  century  manuscript  (Folk-lore,  1913, 

Observations  of  Days  Lucky  and  xxiv,  121-123). 


CONCLUSION 

IT  is  fairly  obvious  that  the  observance  of  tabooed 
and  unlucky  days  must  be  included  among  the  many 
superstitions  which  have  retarded  the  progress  of  man- 
kind. They  hinder  individual  initiative  and  tend  to 
prevent  the  undertaking  of  lengthy  enterprises  which 
may  be  interrupted  by  the  recurrence  of  an  unfavour- 
able period.  Their  extensive  development  compels 
fitful,  intermittent  labour,  rather  than  a  steady  and 
continuous  occupation.  The  Burman,  for  example, 
"is  so  fettered  by  his  horoscope  and  the  lucky  and 
unlucky  days  for  him  recorded  therein,  which  are 
taught  him  in  rhymes  from  childhood,  that  the  char- 
acter has  been  given  him  by  strangers  of  alternate 
idleness  and  energy.  But  both  are  enforced  by  the 
numerous  days  and  seasons  when  he  may  not  work 
without  disaster  to  himself.  Unlucky  days  cause  him 
so  much  fear  that  he  will  resort  to  all  sorts  of  excuses 
to  avoid  business  on  them.  Similarly,  on  lucky  days 
he  will  work  beyond  his  strength,  because  he  is  assured 
of  success." 1  Again,  it  is  said  that  Europeans  in 
India  usually  fail  to  realize  the  great  influence  which 
ideas  of  lucky  and  unlucky  days  exert  on  the  conduct 
of  the  people.  Superstitious  avoidance  of  unpropitious 
occasions  will  often  explain  the  failure  of  the  natives 
to  obey  a  court  summons  or  to  keep  their  appointments 
with  government  officers.2  These  remarks,  by  keen 

1  Sir  R.  C.  Temple,  "  Burma,"  Upper     Burma     see     Gazetteer     of 

in  Hastings's  Encyclopedia  of  Reli-  Upper  Burma  and  the  Shan  States, 

§ion  and  Ethics,  iii,  29;    compare  edited    by    Scott    and    Hardiman, 

hway  Yoe  [Sir  J.  G.  Scott],   The  Rangoon,  1900,  pt.  i,  vol.  ii,  48  sqq. 

Burman,    his    Life    and    Notions,3  2  W.    Crooke,   Popular   Religion 

London,    1910,    pp.    383-389.     On  and   Folk-lore   of  Northern   India,2 

the     unlucky     days     observed     in  Westminster,  1896,  ii,  52  sq. 

302 


CONCLUSION  303 

observers,  are  capable  of  a  wide  application  to  various 
primitive  races.  The  belief  in  unfavourable  seasons 
may  even  directly  affect  political  and  social  progress, 
where,  as  in  modern  Ashanti  and  in  ancient  Rome, 
assemblies  could  not  be  held,  or  courts  of  justice  stand 
open,  or  armies  engage  the  enemy,  when  the  unlucky 
day  came  round.  It  is  equally  obvious  that  all  such 
beliefs  play  into  the  hands  of  the  astrologer  and  magi- 
cian, tending  further  to  strengthen  the  bonds  with 
which  superstition  enchains  its  votaries. 

From  the  economic  point  of  view  it  deserves  to  be 
pointed  out  how  the  extensive  development  of  tabooed 
and  unlucky  days  seriously  limits  production  and  thus 
lowers  the  efficiency  of  labour.  In  Hawaii  the  seasons 
of  strict  abstinence  regularly  observed  during  eight 
months  of  the  year  reached  a  total  of  seventy-two  days, 
while  from  time  to  time  still  other  tabu  days  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  priests.1  In  Ashanti  an  old  writer 
calculated  that  there  were  only  from  one  hundred  and 
fifty  to  one  hundred  and  sixty  days  in  the  year  during 
which  business  of  any  importance  could  be  safely 
undertaken.2  Few  peoples  have  more  holidays  than 
the  Hopi  Indians  of  Arizona.  Their  religious  festivals 
occupy  more  than  half  the  year.  It  is  a  noteworthy 
fact,  however,  that  the  Hopi  celebrate  their  longest 
and  most  important  ceremonies  during  the  months 
from  harvest  time  to  planting,  when  there  is  little 
work  to  be  done.  " Although  the  Pueblo  farmer 
may  thoroughly  believe  in  his  ceremonial  system  as 
efficacious,  his  human  nature  is  too  practical  to  con- 
sume the  precious  planting  time  with  elaborate  cere- 
monials." 3  In  modern  China  and  Korea  so  many 

1  D.  Malo,  Hawaiian  Antiquities,  cinas,"  Fifteenth  Annual  Report  of 
Honolulu,  1903,  p.  56.  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 

2  J.  Dupuis,  Journal  of  a  Resi-  Washington,    1897,    p.    255.     The 
dence  in  Ashantee,  London,   1824,  Hopi   furnish  one  of  the  few   in- 
213    n*\    compare  John  Beecham,  stances  of  compulsory  rest  days  to 
Ashantee  and  the  Gold  Coast,  Lon-  be    found    among    the    American 
don,  1841,  p.  188.  Indians.     They  hold  a  mid-winter 

3  J.  W.  Fewkes,  "Tusayan  Kat-  festival,  called  the  soydluna,  at  the 


304  REST  DAYS 

festivals  in  honour  of  deities  are  observed  as  holidays 
that  they  take  the  place,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  the 
Sabbath  institution.1  Among  the  ancient  Egyptians 
the  unlucky  days  varied  in  number  according  to  the 
different  months,  six,  for  instance,  occurring  in  Paophi, 
seven  each  in  Choiak  and  Phamenoth,  and  five  in 
Pharmuthi.  It  may  be  reckoned  that  "popular  super- 
stition rendered  useless  about  one-fifth  of  the  year." 
The  Athenian  festivals  are  estimated  to  have  occupied 
from  fifty  to  sixty  days  of  the  year.  The  irregular 
distribution  of  these  holidays  throughout  the  months, 
and  especially  their  congestion  in  spring  and  autumn, 
must  have  caused  much  interference  with  the  routine 
of  daily  life.3  In  some  city-states  the  festivals  were 
more  numerous  :  at  Tarentum,  in  the  days  of  its  pros- 
perity, the  people  are  said  to  have  had  more  holidays 
than  working  days.4 

In  the  old  Roman  calendar,  out  of  three  hundred 
and  fifty-five  days,  nearly  one-third  (one  hundred  and 
nine)  were  marked  as  nefasti,  that  is,  as  unlawful  for 
judicial  and  political  business.  These  days  belonged 
wholly  to  the  gods,  while  eleven  more  days  of  the  year 
were  shared  by  the  divine  and  the  human  inhabitants 
of  the  city.5  We  know  on  the  evidence  of  Cicero  that 

time  of  the  winter  solstice.     "  De-  other   festivals,   both   general   and 

cember    is    regarded    as    a    sacred  local,    are    common    occasions    for 

month ;  no  work  is  performed  in  it,  relaxation    and    merry-making    (S. 

and  few  games  are  allowed.     It  is  W.  Williams,  The  Middle  Kingdom? 

the  month  of  the  return  of  the  sun  New  York,  1883,  i,  809). 
and  the  gods,  and  bears  the  same  2  Maspero,  New  Light  on  Ancient 

name     as    July,    in_   which    they  Egypt?  p.  135. 


depart"     (J.    W.     Fewkes,    "The  3  G.   F.   Schoemann,  Griechische 

Winter      Solstice      Ceremony     at  Alterthumer?     edited     by     J.     H. 

Walpi,"    American    Anthropologist,  Lipsius,      Berlin,      1897-1902,      ii, 

1898,  xi,  69).  458  sq.;    compare  Plato,  Leges,  ii, 

1  J.   H.   Gray,   China,   London,  653;   Thucydides,  ii,  38. 

1878,  i,  249;   W.  E.  Griffis,  Corea,  4  Strabo,  Geographica,  vi,  3,  4. 

the    Hermit    Nation?    New    York,  5  This  calculation  assumes   109 

1889,    p.    295.     According   to   one  dies  nefasti,  192  dies  fasti  et  comi- 

account    the    shops    in    China    are  tiales,   on   which  assemblies  might 

shut    and    all    business    suspended  meet,  43  dies  fasti  non  comitiales, 

only  on  the  first  three  days  of  the  available  for  judicial  business  but 

year,  though  these  and  numerous  not  for  meetings  of  the  assemblies, 


CONCLUSION  305 

in  the  last  century  of  the  republic  the  numerous  days 
when  courts  could  not  sit  had  become  a  resource  on 
which  a  wealthy  criminal  could  speculate  as  a  means 
of  delaying  and  evading  justice;  while  Suetonius 
enumerates  among  the  praiseworthy  reforms  of  Augus- 
tus the  cutting-down  of  non-judicial  days  by  thirty, 
"in  order  that  crimes  might  not  escape  punishment 
or  business  be  impeded  by  delay." l  Of  the  dies 
nefasti  sixty-one,  including  the  Ides  of  every  month, 
the  Kalends  of  three  months,  and  the  Nones  of  July, 
were  numbered  in  the  republican  calendar  among  the 
public  festivals  — ferite  public  ce  —  on  which  the  state 
expected  the  citizens  to  abstain,  as  far  as  possible, 
from  their  private  business  and  labour.2  But  the 
number  of  rest  days  observed  really  reached  a  larger 
total,  when  we  remember  that,  besides  the  extraordi- 
nary ferice,  proclaimed  from  time  to  time,  there  was  a 
marked  tendency  during  the  last  two  centuries  of  the 
republic  to  extend  over  several  days  festivals  to  which 
originally  only  one  day  had  been  allotted.  This  was  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  time  for  an  elaborate  programme 
of  public  games  (ludi),  consisting  of  chariot-races, 
stage  plays,  and  other  forms  of  popular  amusement. 
As  the  Roman  passion  for  holidays  and  their  at- 
tendant spectacles  increased,  we  find  the  number  of 
days  devoted  to  them  rising  from  sixty-six  in  the  reign 
of  Augustus  to  eighty-seven  in  that  of  Tiberius,  and, 
under  Marcus  Aurelius,  to  a  hundred  and  thirty-five. 
By  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century  their  number 
had  reached  one  hundred  and  seventy-five.3  For  the 
lower  classes  at  Rome  the  gladiatorial  combats,  chariot- 

8  dies  intercisiy  or  days  partly  fasti  by  their  rivals,   ferial  days  being 

and  partly  nffasti,  and  3  dies  fissi  included  in  the  dies  nefasti. 
(Wissowa,  Religion  und  Kultus  der  2  Above,  pp.  94  sqq.,  170. 

Romery  pp.  368  sq.).  3  L.  Friedlander,  Roman  Life  and 

1  Cicero,  In  Verremy\,  10;  Sueto-  Manners  under  the  Early  Empire, 

nius,  Divus  Augustus,  32.     It  has  London,   1908,  ii,   II  sq.;    W.  W. 

been  already  noticed  (above,  p.  97)  Fowler,  Social  Life  at  Rome  in  the 

that     Roman     consuls     sometimes  Age   of  Cicero,   New   York,    1909, 

instituted   extraordinary  ferics   for  pp.  287  sqq.     Though  the  ancients 

the  purpose  of  blocking  legislation  were    careful    to    distinguish    the 


x 


3o6  REST  DAYS 

races,  and  dramatic  shows  formed  the  chief  pleasure 
of  life.  The  once-sovereign  people  of  Rome  became  a 
lazy,  worthless  rabble,  fed  by  the  state  and  amused 
with  the  games.  Of  them  it  was  well  said  by  an 
ancient  satirist  that  they  wanted  only  two  things  to 
make  them  happy  —  "bread  and  the  games  of  the 
circus."  1 

Many  of  the  holy  days  in  the  religious  calendar  of 
Christendom  were  borrowed,  as  is  well  known,  from 
the  public  festivals  of  ancient  paganism.  This  must 
be  the  chief  reason  for  the  observance  of  so  many  non- 
working  days  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Their  number 
was  largely  reduced  in  Protestant  Europe  as  the  result 
of  the  Reformation,  which  did  away  with  the  majority 
of  saints'  days.  In  Catholic  countries,  however,  there 
is  still  an  excessive  amount  of  time  devoted  to  religious 
celebrations.  Mexico,  for  instance,  is  described  as  "a 
land  of  holidays.  Counting  Sundays,  there  are  one 
hundred  and  thirty-one  in  the  Mexican  calendar,  and 
it  is  asserted  that  more  than  half  of  the  people  observe 
them  all.  .  .  .  On  certain  of  these  days  all  Mexico 
takes  to  the  festival,  and  it  usually  requires  from  one 
to  three  days  for  the  peons  to  sober  up  and  get  back  to 
regular  work  again."  2  The  Greek  Church,  as  a  cele- 
brated traveller  and  historian  once  pointed  out,  requires 
her  followers  to  observe  so  many  holy  days  "as  practi- 
cally to  shorten  the  lives  of  the  people  very  materially. 
I  believe  that  one-third  of  the  number  of  days  in  the 
year  are  'kept  holy,'  or  rather,  kept  stupid,  in  honour 
of  the  saints  :  no  great  portion  of  the  time  thus  set 
apart  is  spent  in  religious  exercises  and  the  people  don't 
betake  themselves  to  any  animating  pastimes,  which 
might  serve  to  strengthen  the  frame,  or  invigorate  the 


^     from     the     l-udi     (compare  that  nearly  all  of  them  were  con- 

Gellius,  Nodes  Attica^  ii,   24,   1 1 :  verted  into  ludi. 
Diebus  ludorumet  ferns  quibusdam),  l  Panem   et    circenses    (Juvenal, 

yet  in  late  republican  and  imperial  x,  81). 

times    the   joyous    aspects    of  the  2  W.  J.   Showalter,  in  National 

jerice    had    become    so    prominent  Geographic  Magazine,  1914,  xxv,  493. 


CONCLUSION  307 

mind,  or  exalt  the  taste."  1  In  Russia  commercial 
and  educational  progress  is  hindered  by  the  multitude 
of  saints'  days.  "The  dies  nefas,  when  work  is  tabooed, 
becomes  a  serious  handicap  in  the  race  of  modern  life. 
These  saints'  days,  together  with  the  Sundays,  rob 
the  Russian  of  nearly  one-third  of  his  time,  for  they 
leave  him  only  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  days  for 
work.  He  would  sooner  work  on  a  Sunday  than  on  a 
saint's  day."  3  In  eastern  Galicia,  where  a  calendar 
is  in  use  which  permits  the  observance  of  the  religious 
festivals  of  both  the  Roman  and  the  Greek  churches, 
the  number  of  holidays  or  non-working  days  is  con- 
siderably in  excess  of  one  hundred,  rising  in  some 
districts  to  one  hundred  and  fifty,  and  in  others  reach- 
ing the  amazing  total  of  two  hundred.3  To  what 
extremes  the  practice  of  abstaining  from  labour  on 
holy  days  may  extend  is  further  illustrated  in  Abys- 
sinia, where  the  numerous  fasts  and  feasts  are  so 
strictly  kept  as  to  render  about  six  months  of  the  year 
prohibited  for  any  secular  employments.4 

Human  nature,  it  has  been  said,  is  always  ready  for 
the  shift  from  fast  to  feast,  from  Sabbath  to  Saturnalia,  y 
To  the  student  of  primitive  religion  and  sociology  noth- 
ing is  more  interesting  than  the  contemplation  of  that 
unconscious  though  beneficent  process  which  has  con- 
verted institutions,  based  partly  or  wholly  on  a  belief  in 
the  imaginary  and  the  supernatural,  into  institutions 
resting  on  the  rock  of  reason  and  promoting  human 
welfare.  Though  the  origin  of  tabooed  and  unlucky 
days  must  be  sought  in  gross  superstition,  sooner  or 
later  they  acquire  a  secular  character  and  may  then 
be  perpetuated  as  holidays,  long  after  their  earlier 
significance  has  disappeared.  The  transition,  with 
all  its  subtle  and  manifold  results  on  the  organization 


1  A.W.  Kinglake,  jEoMiftt,  chap.  v.  Auswanderungspolitik      in      Osier- 

2W.  F.  Adeney,  The  Greek  and  reich,  Leipzig,  1909,  p.  56. 

Eastern  Churches,  New  York,  1908,  4  W.  C.  Harris,    The  Highlands 

p.  433.  of    Ethiopia,     New    York     [1843], 

3  L.    Caro,    Auswanderung    und  p.  280. 


3o8  REST  DAYS 

of  society,  may  be  followed  under  our  own  eyes.  The 
passage  of  the  holy  day  into  the  holiday,  beginning  in 
the  lower  culture,  promises  to  reach  its  culmination  in 
the  secularizing  of  all  the  great  festivals  of  the  Chris- 
tian year.  This  evolutionary  movement,  whether  for 
weal  or  woe,  at  least  provides  a  singularly  instruc- 
tive illustration  of  the  close  relations  between  religion 
and  social  progress,  which  must  ever  impress  the  in- 
quirer into  the  early  history  of  mankind. 


INDEX 


Aberdeenshire,  279. 

Abonsam,  a  Gold  Coast  demon,  77. 

Abor,  the,  54. 

Abraham,  240  n.1 

Abyssinia,  70,  139  n.2,  193  sq.,  199,  210, 
270  n.,  307. 

Achehnese  of  Sumatra,  204. 

Adams,  J.  Q.,  on  the  French  Revolu- 
tionary calendar,  283. 

Afar,  the,  199. 

Affirah-bi,  a  Gold  Coast  festival  of 
the  dead,  76,  77. 

Afghanistan,  293. 

Agar,  the  rest  days  of  the  Siah  Posh 
Kafirs,  293  sq. 

"A7tos,  Greek  term  for  taboo,  3  and 
n.6 

Aha,  Hawaiian  prayers,  n,  12  and  n?, 

13- 

Ahanta  of  the  Gold  Coast,  190  and  w.4 
Akamba  of  British  East  Africa,  136, 145. 
Akikuyu  of  British  East  Africa,  6,  68, 

101  n.1,  107,  136,  209  sq. 
Akposo  of  Togo,  115  n. 
Alaska,  72  sq.,  73  n.2 
Albania,  272. 
Alcibiades,  92  sq. 
Ailia,  battle  of  the,  171,  245,  273. 
Amau,   the   Kayan  omen   animals,   28 

and  n.1 

Amos,  the  prophet,  244,  252. 
Anahulu,  the  Hawaiian,  188. 
Anam,  189,  201. 

Andaman  Islanders,  the,  132,  181. 
Animals,    used    in    divination,    27,    28 

and  n.1,  59  n.2;   rest  days  for,  95  sq., 

138. 

Animistic  sanctions  of  taboos,  5  sq. 
Anita,  ancestral  spirits  of  the  Bontoc 

Igorot,  48  n? 
Anoiila,  the  Nicobarese  term  for  rest 

day,  40,  165. 


Anthesteria,  Athenian  festival  of  the, 
79  sq.,  88. 

Antu,  Bornean  spirits,  35  n? 

Apis,  sacred  Egyptian  bull,  129  «.* 

Apollo,  169,  211  and  n.4,  212  n.1,  299. 

'  A7ro0/xi5es  yptpcu,  Greek  unlucky  days, 
79  sq.,  84,  92  sq.,  139  and  n*, 
140. 

Arabs,  lunar  superstitions  of  the,  126, 
139,  248;  calendar  of  the,  175, 
179  n.1,  182  «.',  226  sq. ;  their  pref- 
erence for  odd  numbers,  178  n.1; 
their  adoption  of  the  seven-day  week, 
206;  lunar  mansions  of  the,  275. 

Arakan,  55,  66. 

Arizona,  303. 

Armenia,  282  sq. 

Artemis,  130. 

Aryans  of  ancient  India,  lunar  festivals 
of  the,  149  sqq. ',  their  epagomenal 
days,  276  sq. 

'AfrAiPoi,   the  Athenian,    139  and  n.8 

Ashanti,  303. 

Assam,  49  sqq.,  53  sqq.,  65  sq.,  89,  106, 

233*7- 

Asshurbanipal,  Assyrian  king,  223,  238. 
Astrology,    191    n.1,    194  sq.,    197   w.2, 

202,  204,  205,  210,  213  sqq.,  216  sqq., 

220,  244,  274  sq.,  286  n.3,  287  sq.,  303. 
Atenoux,  185. 
Athene,  92,  93. 
Athenian  festivals,  79  sq.,  88,  91  sqq., 

169  sq.,  304. 
Atonement,  Day  of,  81  sqq.,  93,  179  n.1, 

235  n.2,  260. 

Atua,  Polynesian  spirits,  5,  8. 
August,    unlucky    days    of,    in    Greek 

lands,  284. 
Augustine,  St.,  265. 
Augustus,   Roman  emperor,    100,   219, 

3°5- 
Aurelius,  Marcus,  305. 


309 


310 


INDEX 


Auspices,  Maori,  17. 

Australia,  26,  128,  180,  183. 

Azazel,  a  bad  angel  or  demon,  82,  83  n.1 

Babylonians,  the,  their  conception  of 
taboo,  6,  231  sq. ;  their  superstitions 
relating  to  the  moon,  126,  138  sq. ; 
their  five-day  period,  or  khamushtu, 
195  and  n?,  228;  cult  of  seven 
among  the,  212  sqq.,  225,  229  sqq. ; 
the  seven  planets  and  planetary 
deities  of  the,  213  sqq. ;  their  divi- 
sion of  the  nycthemeron  into  twelve 
kaspu,  218  n.1;  their  "evil  days," 
223  sqq.,  230,  231,  232  sqq.,  236, 
241,  254,  257  sq.,  282  n.1;  seven- 
day  cycles  of  the,  224  sq.,  227  sqq.', 
lunar  month  of  the,  226  sqq.;  the 
shabattum,  235  sqq.,  239,  240  sq. ; 
new-moon  and  full-moon  days  ob- 
served by  the,  239  sq. ;  their  un- 
lucky days,  241  n.1,  297  sq.;  the 
Hebrew  week  and  Sabbath  not 
directly  borrowed  from  the,  246; 
their  lunar  mansions,  274  sq. 

Badaga  of  the  Madras  Presidency,  149. 

Baffin  Land,  71  sq. 

Baganda  of  Uganda,  129,  145  sq. 

Bahima  of  Uganda,  75  sq.,  76  n.1,  147. 

Bahuana  of  Belgian  Congo,  108. 

Bakuba  of  Belgian  Congo,  108. 

Bali,  island  of,  41  sqq.,  105,  165  and  n.1, 
183,  205. 

Balubale,  Bahima  demons,  76  and  n.1 

Bambala  of  Belgian  Congo,  108  and  n.6 

Banyoro  of  Uganda,  146  sq. 

Bapiri  of  British  South  Africa,  144. 

Barotse  of  British  South  Africa,  145. 

Barter,  Australian,  103 . 

Basoga  of  Uganda,  69  sq. 

Basuto  of  British  South  Africa,  68, 
75  and  n?,  179. 

Bathing  prohibited  during  a  tabooed 
or  unlucky  period,  I,  9,  31,  39,  49  n.1, 
70,  92  n.,  155,  273  n.3,  289,  297. 

Batta  of  Sumatra,  105,  205,  285  sq. 

Bawenda  of  British  South  Africa,  194. 

Bayaka  of  Belgian  Congo,  108  and  n.5 

Baziba  of  Uganda,  145. 

Bechuana  of  British  South  Africa,  68, 
144  sq. 

Belgian  Congo,  105  sq.,  117  n.1,  190. 


Bengal,  88  sq.,  137. 

Benin,  101  n.1,  ill,  112  and  n.1,  182, 

187  n.1 
Bhaskara  Saptami,  Hindu  festival  of, 

153  s<I- 

Bhutan,  the  Buddhist  Sabbath  in,  163. 

Bini  of  Benin,  101  n.1,  in,  112  and  n.1, 
182,  187  n.1 

Bodily  attentions  not  permitted  during 
a  tabooed  or  unlucky  period,  I,  9, 
3i»  39»  49  n.1,  70,  71,  92  n.,  151,  155, 
232,  233,  282  n.1,  289,  300.  See  also 
Bathing. 

Bohemia,  135  n.7 

Book  of  the  Dead,  the,  167. 

Borneo,  6,  26  sqq.,  65,  88,  180,  208  sq. 

Boscawen,  W.  H.,  236  n.1 

Bowditch  Island.     See  Fakaofo. 

Brazil,  125,  182. 

Breasted,  J.  H.,  167  n.1 

British  Columbia,  71  n.*,  197  n.1 

East  Africa,  6,  68  sq.,  107,  128, 

134,  136,  145,  181  sq.,  189  sq.,  198  sq., 
209  sq. 

New  Guinea,  26  and  n.3,  101  n.1, 

103  sq. 

North  Borneo,  65,  208  sq. 

South  Africa,  67  sq.,  137,  144  sq., 

182,  194,  214  n. 

Brittany,  130,  279. 

Bubuk,  the  Land  Dyak  name  of  full 
moon,  37. 

Buddha,  the,  156,  157,  158,  161. 

Buddhism,  observance  of  the  uposatha 
in,  155  sqq. 

Buriat  of  Siberia,  132. 

Burkeneji  of  British  East  Africa,  198  sq. 

Burma,  tabooed  days  observed  in, 
55  sqq.,  66;  the  Buddhist  Sabbath 
in,  159  sqq. ;  divisions  of  the  month 
employed  in,  184,  189;  the  seven- 
day  week  in,  201;  unlucky  days 
observed  in,  273  n.3,  302. 

Bushmen  of  British  South  Africa,  126, 
141  sq.,  147. 

Bushongo.     See  Bakuba. 

Buta,  Balinese  evil  spirits,  42. 

Calabar  (Old),  78,  in. 

Calendar,  the,  13  n.1,  47,  75,  82  n.2, 
118,  148,  166,  173  sqq.,  226  sqq., 
248  sq.,  253  sqq.,  279,  281,  282  sq. 


INDEX 


ibodia,  162,  184  n?,  200,  201. 

Canaanites,  the  Sabbath  not  borrowed 
from  the,  246. 

Cannae,  battle  of,  171  n.1 

Cardinal  points,  colour  symbolism  of 
the,  105  n.2 

Caroline  Islands,  the,  24^.,  181,  188  sq. 

Cato  the  Elder,  on  Roman  holidays, 
95  sq.y  98. 

Celebes,  104,  205. 

Celtiberians,  lunar  festivals  of  the,  172. 

Celts,  lunar  festivals  of  the,  172;  their 
calendar,  185  sq. ;  nine-day  cycles  of 
the,  193  and  n.2 

Central  America,  118,  119,  174,  280  sq. 

Ceylon,  155,  158,  159  and  n.1,  184,  201. 

Chams,  the,  184  n.z,  201. 

Cherokee  Indians,  the,  141,  214  n. 

Cheyne,  T.  K.,  243  n.1 

Chibcha.     See  Muysca. 

Chiefs  and  kings,  death  of,  necessitates 
communal  abstinence,  25,  26,  63, 
65,  67,  68,  69  sq. ;  responsible  for 
the  observance  of  communal  taboos, 
27  n.1,  45,  68  n.1 ;  subject  to  various 
restrictions,  233  sq. 

Childbirth,  taboos  imposed  in  connec- 
tion with,  4,  7,  25,  38  and  n.3,  44, 
53»  56,  57  n.1,  66  and  n.2,  69  n?; 
the  moon  associated  with,  127  sqq. 

Chinese,  lunar  superstitions  of  the, 
135,  164;  lunar  festivals  observed 
by  the,  163  sq. ;  their  tradition  of  a 
ten-month  year,  177  n.1 ;  their 
lunar  decades,  189  and  «.4;  the 
planetary  week  known  to  the,  202; 
their  lunar  mansions,  202,  274;  ob- 
serve no  rest  days,  203  and  n.1, 
303  sq. ;  unlucky  days  of  the,  286 
and  n.3,  287. 

Chingpaw.     See  Kachin. 

Chronocratories,  astrological  theory  of, 
217  sq. 

Chukchi  of  Siberia,  73,  126. 

Cicero,  on  Roman  holidays,  97,  304  sq. 

Claudius,  Roman  emperor,  100. 

Cochin-China,  189,  200. 

Coligny,  Calendar  of,  133  w.5,  185  and 
n.4,  1 86  n.1 

Colombia,  119  and  n.3,  186. 

Comets,  taboos  imposed  in  connection 
with,  51. 


Congo  Free  State.     See  Belgian  Congo. 

Constantine,  edict  of,  relating  to 
Sunday,  122  sq.,  270. 

Cooking  not  allowed  during  a  tabooed 
or  unlucky  period,  10,  15,  16,  42, 
155,  232  and  n*,  233,  257  and  n.3 
258,  260. 

Copernicus,  216. 

Cos,  island  of,  284. 

Courts  and  public  offices  not  open 
during  a  tabooed  or  unlucky  period, 
67,  79,  80,  122  and  n*,  155,  164, 
169,  203,  211,  239  n.4,  279,  280, 

298,  303>  SOS- 

Couvade,  custom  of  the,  58  sq. 
Covenanters  of  Damascus,  the,  263  n.3 
Creation  myth,  the  Babylonian,  229; 

the  Hebrew,  242  sq. 
Creek  Indians,  the,  141. 
Cremera,  battle  of  the,  273. 
Crete,  284. 
Crisis,  sociological  conception  of,  60  sq., 

86. 

Cumont,  Franz,  220  n.3 
Cyclades,  the,  134. 
Cyprian,  270. 
Cyprus,  284. 

Dahomey,  1 14  and  n? 

Dakota  Indians,  the,  141. 

Dalai    Lama,   tabooed    days   observed 

after  the  death  of  the,  67. 
Danakil,  the,  199. 
Darmesteter,  J.,  166  n. 
David,  245. 
Dead,    festivals    of  the,    51    and   n.4, 

74  sqq.,  79  sqq. 
Death,    taboos    observed    after    a,    7, 

19  n.,  24,  25,  26,  34,    36,    38,    39, 

43,  44,  51,  60,  63  sqq.,  84,  95   and 

n?,    258    sq.',     primitive    ideas    of, 

62  sq. 

Debel,  N.  H.,  196  n.1 
Decade,  the,  188  sqq.,  198,  245,  281  n.J 
Decalogues,  the,  242  and  n.1,  256. 
Deluge  myth,  the  Babylonian,  212,  230; 

the  Hebrew,  276  n.2 
Demons,  punish  the  violators  of  taboos, 

5    sq.,    8,    28,    31    sqq.t   40   sqq.,   48, 

49  n.1,  51;    expulsion  of,  22,  40  sqq., 

56,  74  sqq.,  278. 
Dendera,  temple  of,  168. 


3I2 


INDEX 


Dew,    the   moon   believed    to   be   the 

source  of,  131  and  n? 
Diana,  130. 
Dichomenia,  the  Greek  full-moon  day, 

170  and  n?y  184  and  n.6 
Dieri  of  South  Australia,  180. 
Dies  JEgyptiaci,  299  sqq. 

Alliensis,  245,  273. 

airi.     See  Dies  religiosi. 

dominica,  the  Lord's  Day,  220  sq., 

267. 

feriati.     See  Feruc. 

nefasti,  80  w.2,  304  sq. 

postriduani,  170  sq. 

religiosi,   Roman    unlucky  days, 

80  and,  n.\  81,  84,  93   sq.,  94  n?, 

170  sq.,  171  n\  273. 

Saturni.     See  Saturday. 

Solis.     See  Sunday. 

vitiosi.     See  Dies  religiosi. 

Diffusion  of  cultural  elements,  39  sq., 

58,  84,  196. 

Dio  Cassius,  on  the  origin  of  the  plane- 
tary week,  216  sqq. ;  on  the  Hebrew 

Sabbath,  245. 
Dionysus,  79,  88,  266. 
Diulasu,  the,  n6n.1 
Divination,  17,  27,  28  sqq.,  48,  50  n.1, 

285  sqq. 
Dositheus,  observance  of  the  Sabbath 

by,  257  n.1 
Dravidians   of  India,   66  sq.,   88  sqq., 

137  sq.,  148  sq. 
Durga,  Hindu  goddess,  153. 
Dusun  of  British  North   Borneo,  65, 

208  sq. 
Dutch  Borneo,  26  n.1,  31  sqq.,  180. 

New  Guinea,  104. 

Du-zang,  the  Tibetan  Sabbath,  162  sq. 

Earthquakes,  taboos  imposed  in  con- 
nection with,  42,  43,  50,  60,  69, 
99  ^.,  152. 

Eclipses,  taboos  imposed  in  connection 
with,  42,  50  sq.,  99,  134  sq.,  152,  153, 

259- 

Edo.     See  Bini. 
Egbo,  a  secret  society  of  Old  Calabar, 

78,  in. 

Egungun,  a  Slave  Coast  deity,  77. 
"  Egyptian  days."     See  Dies  JEgyptiaci. 
Egyptians,  superstitions  of  the,  relating 


to  the  moon,  129  and  n.6;  their  lunar 
festivals,  166  sqq. ;  solar  year  of  the, 
1 66,  174,  281 ;  their  ideas  as  to  the 
full  moon,  186  and  n.1;  ten-day  week 
of  the,  191  and  n.1,  245,  281  n?', 
astrological  cycles  of  the,  191  n.1, 
194  sq. ;  the  division  of  the  nycthe- 
meron  into  twenty-four  hours  known 
to  the,  218  n.1',  their  unlucky  days, 
258,  282,  295  sqq.,  304;  epagomenal 
days  of  the,  281  sq. 

Elisha,  249,  251. 

Ellis,  A.  B.,  on  the  origin  of  weeks  and 
Sabbaths,  115,  148  and  n? 

Ellis,  William,  10  n? 

Elmore,  W.  T.,  90  n.1 

Elpanam,  the  men's  house  in  the 
Nicobar  Islands,  40  and  n.z,  41. 

Elul  II,  Babylonian  intercalary  month, 
224,  232,241  n.1,  297. 

England,  lunar  superstitions  in,  134, 
135,  140;  unlucky  days  observed 
in,  279,  300  sq. 

Ennead,  the,  192  sq. 

Epagomenal  days,  Hawaiian,  13  n.2; 
Hebrew,  82  n.2,  276  w.2 ;  early  Aryan, 
276  sq. ;  European  folklore  of  the 
Twelve  Days,  277  sqq. ;  Mexican 
and  Maya,  279  sqq. ;  Egyptian, 

281  sq. ;     Persian,    282;     Armenian, 

282  sq. ;  of  the  French  Revolutionary 
calendar,  283. 

Epic  of  Creation,  the  Babylonian,  229. 

Epirus,  284. 

Erronan.     See  Futuna. 

Eskimo,  the,  71  sqq.,  129. 

Essenes,  the,  257  n.3 

Esthonians,  the,  222. 

Euahlayi  of  New  South  Wales,  128. 

"Evil  Days,"  the  Babylonian,  223  sqq., 

230,    231,    232    sqq.,    236,    241,    254, 

257  sq.,  282  n.1 
Ewe-speaking    peoples    of    the    Slave 

Coast,    tabooed    days    observed    by 

the,  112,  113,  114,  115- 
Ezekiel,  253,  254,  255,  262. 

Fady,  Malagasy  term  for  taboo,  3,  70, 

294. 

Fakaofo  (Bowditch  Island),  20  sq. 
Fakily  a  Bontoc  Igorot  festival,  48. 
Fandroana,  a  Malagasy  festival,  76. 


INDEX 


Farming,  restrictions  on,  during  a 
tabooed  or  unlucky  period,  16  sq., 
17  n.\  21,  23,  27  sqq.,  37,  42,  44, 
45,  46,  47  sq.,  49  J?.,  54»  55,  57  sq., 
64,  65,  67,  68  sqq.,  89,  96,  98,  103, 
109,  110,  113,  137,  144,  148  sq., 
159  n.\  162  n.4,  190  n.4,  194,  204, 
208  sq.,  256,  284,  285,  293,  295,  300. 

Farnell,  L.  R.,  80  n.1 

Fasting  practised  during  a  tabooed  or 
unlucky  period,  I,  15,  16,  17,  32, 
39,  43,  44,  58,  62,  67,  68,  75  n.2, 
81,  89,  134,  135,  143,  146,  149  sqq., 
155,  158,  159,  160,  162,  163  n.2, 
198,  233,  259  J0.,  278,  285,  298. 

Fasti  Philocali,  the,  123  n.3,  300. 
—  Sabini,  the,  219. 

Feast  of  Weeks,  Hebrew,  90,  225  w.2, 
251. 

Fe'e,  Samoan  war-god,  19  sq. 

Feralis,  Roman  festival  of  the,  81  n.1 

Ferue,  the  Roman,  94  sqq.,  122  sq., 
170,  221  n.2,  264  /£.,  305  and  n? 

denicales,  95  and  n? 

imperatives,  98  sqq. 

sementivce,  96  anJ  n.1 

Festivals,  Polynesian,  1 1  sqq. ;  Bornean, 
30  /?.,  37  sq. ;  in  the  Nicobar  Is- 
lands, 40  sq.,  41  n.2;  in  Bali,  41  sqq.', 
in  the  Mentawi  Islands,  43  sq.',  in 
the  Philippines,  45  sqq. ;  in  Manipur, 
49  sqq. ;  in  Assam,  53  sqq. ;  in  Burma, 
55  sqq.;  in  Africa,  75  sqq.,  112  j^.; 
ancient  Greek,  79  sq.,  88,  91  jgg., 
133  n.6,  169  J0.,  211,  304;  ancient 
Roman,  80  sq.,  93  ^qq.,  I21  -W»  I7°> 
304  j£<?. ;  Jewish,  82,  276  n.2 ;  Mo- 
hammedam,  83;  characteristics  of, 
85;  accompanied  by  the  remission 
of  labour,  85  sqq. ;  consecrated  to 
divinities,  87  sq. ;  of  the  Dravidian 
peoples  of  India,  88  sqq. ;  Hebrew, 
90  sq.,  248  sqq. ;  ancient  Aryan,  in 
India,  149  sqq. ;  modern  Brahmanic, 
153  sq.,  165;  Jain,  154 sq.',  Buddhist, 
155  sqq.;  Chinese,  163  sq.,  303  sq.; 
Iranian,  165  sq. ;  Egyptian,  166  sqq. ; 
Babylonian,  239  sq. ;  Phoenician,  240; 
Christian,  267  sqq.,  3°6  •*?•;  Hopi 
Indian,  303. 

Fewkes,  J.  W.,  on  the  Zuni  decades, 
191  n. 


Fiji  Islands,  the,  21  sqq.,  88. 
Fimt,  the  Scandinavian,  195  sq. 
Finns,  the,  222. 

Fires  and  lights  extinguished  during  a 
tabooed  or  unlucky  period,  i,  9,  ic, 

12,  14,  15,   16,  20,  39,  41,  71,  257 
and  n.3,  258  sq.,  296,  297. 

First-fruits,  ceremony  of,  in  New  Zea- 
land, 17  n.1;  in  the  Tonga  Islands, 
18  and  w.2,  19;  in  the  Fiji  Islands, 
23;  the  Hebrew  Day  of,  90  sq.; 
the  Athenian  Plynteria,  92  sq. ;  the 
Roman  Vestalia,  93  sq. 

Fishermen  subject  to  taboos,  14,  25  n.1 

Fishing,  restrictions  on,  during  a 
tabooed  period,  13,  14  sqq.,  25  and 
n.1,  26  and  n.3,  50,  64,  67,  113  and 
n?,  155,  161,  285,  301. 

Flamen  Dialis,  restrictions  imposed  on 
the,  96  and  n? 

Flaminica  Dialis,  92  n.,  96,  122. 

Florida,  state  of,  71. 

Food  taboos.     See  Fasting. 

Formosa,  44. 

Fowler,  W.  W.,  on  the  dies  postriduani, 
171  n? 

France,  lunar  superstitions  in,  126  sq., 
130;  unlucky  days  observed  in 
mediaeval,  300. 

Frazer,  J.  G.,  2  n.1,  3  n.6,  5, 19  n.1,  25  «.J, 
31  n.1,  36  n.,  57  n.2,  59  n.1,  74  n.6,  79 
n.4,  90  «.4,  127  n.B,  131  n.8,  277  n.4 

French  Equatorial  Africa,  3. 

Friday,  an  unlucky  day,  92  n.,  139  n.8, 
222  n.2,  273  and  n.3,  301 ;  as  the 
Mohammedan  Sabbath,  107  n.2, 
Ill  n.3,  115,  116  sq.,  197,  199,  201, 
204,  205  sq.,  262  n.2 

Frontinus,  245. 

Full  moon,  32  and  n.2,  34  and  n.1, 
37,  52  n.1,  133  and  «.8,  134,  142  sq., 
146  sq.,  148  sqq.,  179,  180,  181  n.7, 
182  n.7,  183,  184  j0.,  186  n.1,  229, 
238  j^.,  240  n.3,  246,  250  j^.,  254, 
257,  260. 

Futuna  (Erronan),  island  of,  24. 

Galicia,  saints'  days  observed  in,  307. 

Galla,  the,  ii6n.3,  199. 

Gaman,  the,  116  n.1 

Games  played  during  a  tabooed  period, 

13,  20,  31  n.1,  Son.1 


INDEX 


Gamut,    origin    and    diffusion   of  the, 

217  n* 

Garo  of  Assam,  54. 
Ga-speaking  peoples  of  the  Gold  Coast, 

tabooed  days  observed  by  the,  112, 

115;     their   lunar   weeks,    187    and 

n? 

Gatha-days,  the  Persian,  282. 
Gaul,  ancient,  186  n.1,  221. 
Genesia,  Athenian  festival  of  the,  79. 
Genna    (kennie),   the    Naga    term    for 

rest  day,  49  and  n.3,  52  w.2 
Gennabura.     See  Khullakpa. 
German  East  Africa,  68,  76,  107,  197, 

209. 

New  Guinea,  57  n.1,  180. 

Germanic    languages,    names    of    the 

week  days  in,  221  sq. 
Germans,  ancient,  observance  of  new 

moon  and  full  moon  by  the,  133,  172, 

185 ;  cycles  of  nine  days  used  by  the, 

193- 

Germany,  abstinence  from  work  after 
a  death  observed  in,  74;  lunar 
superstitions  in,  126, 127, 133,  135  n.1; 
unlucky  days  observed  in,  127,  278  sq. 

Gilgamesh,  Epic  of,  276  w.2 

Gold  Coast  of  west  Africa,  76  sq.,  112, 
113,  115,  187,  190  and  n* 

Gour-dfziou,  the,  in  Brittany,  279. 

Greek  Church,  saints'  days  in  the 
calendar  of  the,  306  sq. 

Greeks,  ancient,  unlucky  days  of  the, 
79  sq.,  84,  92  sq.,  139  sq.;  festivals 
of  the,  79  sq.,  88,  91  sqq.,  133  ft.6, 
169  sq.,  211,  304;  their  superstitions 
relating  to  the  moon,  126,  129  sq., 
133  n.3,  139  sq.\  their  lunar  calendar, 
169,  184;  lunar  decades  of  the, 
191  sq.;  cycles  of  nine  days  and 
nine  years  used  by  the,  192  sq. ; 
cult  of  seven  among  the,  211  sq. 

Greenland,  71,  129. 

Grimme,  H.,  on  the  Day  of  Atonement, 
83  n.1;  on  Pleiades  cults  among  the 
Hebrews,  225  n.2 

Gudea,  the  inscription  of,  239  n.4 

Habbe  of  the  Sudan,  69  n.2,  116  n.1 
Hair-cutting,  superstitions  relating  to, 

9,  18  n.,  53,  92  w.,  151,  300. 
Halmahera,  island  of,  63  sq. 


Hammurabi,     Babylonian    king,    223, 

235  n.1 

Hannibal,  99. 

Hanuman,  Hindu  monkey-god,  201. 

Haoma,  129. 

Harran,  city  of,  239,  240  and  n.1 

Haughbah,  a  tabooed  day  on  the  Gold 
Coast,  115  n* 

Hawaiian  Islanders,  tabooed  days  ob- 
served by  the,  8  sqq.,  24,  88,  188, 
233»  258,  303 ;  their  calendar,  13  n*, 
188. 

Hebdomad.     See  Seven-day  week. 

Hebrews,  the,  their  Sabbath,  10  w.4, 
91,  96  n.1,  98  n.4,  104  n.,  109,  122, 
148,  179  w.1,  235,  236  and  n.,  242  sqq., 
291  sq. ;  the  Day  of  Atonement, 
8 1  sqq.,  93,  179  n.1,  235  «.*,  260; 
their  agricultural  festivals,  90  sq., 
250  sq.;  cult  of  seven  among  the, 
212  w.3;  their  seven-day  week,  243, 
245  sq.,  253  sqq.,  267;  new-moon 
and  full-moon  festivals  of  the,  248  sqq. 
See  also  Jews. 

Heiau,  Hawaiian  temple,  9,  12,  15. 

Heptagram,  the,  217  n.1 

Hera,  130,  169,  170. 

Hervey  Islands,  the,  181  n.1 

Hesiod,  169,  170  n.2,  192,  211,  298  sq. 

Hiang,  a  Formosan  term  for  rest  day,  44. 

Ho  of  Togo,  182. 

Hobbes,  Thomas,  on  the  origin  of 
religion,  I. 

Holiness,  the  conception  of,  86  and  n.1, 
242  n.1 

Holy  days.     See  Festivals. 

water,  Hawaiian,  n. 

Hooker,  Richard,  259  sq. 

Hopi  Indians  of  Arizona,  festivals  of 
the,  303  and  n? 

Horace,  266. 

Hosea,  the  prophet,  252. 

Hottentots  of  British  South  Africa, 
182,  214  n. 

Hours,  division  of  the  nycthemeron 
into,  218  and  n.1 

House-building,  taboos  imposed  in  con- 
nection with,  32  sq.,  34,  39,  43,  44, 
4S>  55>  209,  285,  299,  300. 

Hova  of  Madagascar,  132  sq.,  294. 

Hrilh,  the  Lushei  term  for  taboo,  55. 

Hua,  Hawaiian  deity,  15,  88. 


INDEX 


315 


Huahine,  island  of,  9. 

Humphrey  Island.     See  Manahiki. 

Hunting,     restrictions     on,     during     a 

tabooed     period,     50,    72    and    n.1, 

73  n.1,  74,  155,  161  sq. 

Iban  (Sea  Dyak)  of  Borneo,  33  sqq.,  65, 
208. 

Ibo  of  Southern  Nigeria,  in  and  n.3 

Ides,  the,  170,  171,  184  sq.,  185  n.1,  305. 

Ignatius,  St.,  269  and  n.3 

Igorot  of  Luzon,  46  sqq.,  88,  181. 

Ihering,  R.  von,  on  the  origin  of  periodic 
rest  days,  102. 

Impregnation  believed  to  be  accom- 
plished by  the  moon,  127  sqq. 

Inachi,  the  Tonga  ceremony  of  first- 
fruits,  1 8  and  n.2,  93. 

Inclusive  reckoning,  practice  of,  1 19  n.1, 
120  n.2,  267  n.6 

India,  tabooed  days  after  a  death 
observed  in,  66  sq. ;  Dravidian 
village  festivals,  88  sqq. ;  Dravidian 
lunar  superstitions,  132,  134  sq., 
148  sq. ;  the  ancient  Aryan  upa- 
vasatha,  149  sqq. ;  Hindu  festival  of 
Bhaskara  Saptami,  153  sq.',  Hindu 
bipartite  division  of  the  month, 
183  sq. ;  the  seven-day  week  in, 
199  sqq.;  symbolism  of  seven  in, 
21 1 ;  the  lunar  mansions  in,  275; 
the  Twelve  Days  in,  276  sq.;  un- 
lucky days  observed  in,  291,  302. 

Indians,  North  American,  141,  182, 
197,  210,  211  and  n.1 

Indo-China,  66,  105  sq.,  184,  189,  200. 

Innuit  of  Alaska,  72. 

Interlunium,  the,  as  a  tabooed  period, 
136  sqq. 

Iranians,  lunar  superstitions  of  the, 
129;  their  lunar  festivals,  165  sq., 
200;  their  bipartite  division  of  the 
month,  184.  See  also  Persians. 

Isaiah,  252,  265. 

Ishtar,  Babylonian  goddess,  129,  226, 
230,  232. 

Isidore  of  Seville,  172. 

Italy,  introduction  of  the  planetary 
week  into,  219. 

Jainism,  observance  of  the  posaha  in, 
154  sq. 


Jaluo  of  British  East  Africa,  128. 

Japan,  the  Buddhist  Sabbath  in,  164; 
the  lunar  decade  in,  189;  the  seven- 
day  week  in,  203  sq. ;  rest  days 
observed  in,  ib. ;  unlucky  days  ob- 
served in,  287. 

Jastrow,  Morris,  on  the  observance  of 
the  seventh  day  in  Babylonia,  232  n.4; 
on  the  meaning  of  shabbdt hon,  236  n.; 
on  the  meaning  of  shabattum,  237; 
on  the  inscription  of  Gudea,  240  n. ; 
on  the  original  significance  of  the 
word  "Sabbath,"  251;  on  Baby- 
lonian unlucky  days,  298. 

Java,  104,  105  and  n.\  183,  200,  205 
and  n.4 

Jehovah,  91,  242,  247,  248,  256,  260, 
261,  262. 

Jenks,  A.  E.,  on  the  rest  days  observed 
by  the  Bontoc  Igorot,  47  n? 

Jeremiah,  262. 

Jericho,  255  n.1 

Jesus,  words  of,  relating  to  the  ob- 
servance of  the  Sabbath,  269. 

Jews,  taboos  after  a  death  observed 
by  the,  74;  celebration  of  New 
Year's  Day  by  the,  82 ;  their  super- 
stitions relating  to  the  moon,  126 
and  «.6,  135  and  n.6;  neglect  of  the 
Sabbath  by  modern,  235 ;  unlucky 
days  of  the,  263  n.2,  273  sq.  See  also 
Hebrews. 

Johns,  C.  H.  W.,  on  the  observance  of 
the  Babylonian  "evil  days,"  235  n.1; 
on  the  Babylonian  nubattu,  241  n.1 

Jonathan,  249. 

Josephus,  260. 

Jubilee,  the  Hebrew,  261  and  n.1 

Jum'a,  al,  the  Mohammedan  Sabbath, 
107  n.2,  in  n.3,  115,  116  sq.,  197, 
199,  201,  204  sqq.,  262  n.2 

Juno,  130,  170. 

Jupiter,  the  Roman  nundincs  conse- 
crated to,  122;  the  Ides  consecrated 
to,  170;  the  planet,  213. 

Justin,  Roman  historian,  on  the  origin 
of  the  Sabbath,  260  n.3 

Justin  Martyr,  268. 

Kachin  (Chingpaw),  56,  189. 
Kaffa,  199. 
Kafiristan,  293  sq. 


INDEX 


Kagoro  of  northern  Nigeria,  117  n.1 
Kalends,  the,  170,  171,  184,  305. 
Kalmucks,  the  uposatha  observance  of 

the,  163. 

Kaloa,  Hawaiian  deity,  15,  88, 188. 
Kamata.     See  Kambata. 
Kamataraya,  a  Kota  deity,  88. 
Kambata,  a  Kota  festival,  88. 
Kamehameha  II,  Hawaiian  king,  9. 
Kamerun,  no  sq. 
Kanarese-speaking  peoples  of  southern 

India,  their  village  festivals,  89  sq. ; 

observance    of   the    interlunium    by 

the,   137  and  n3;    tabooed  days  of 

the,  148  sq. 

Kandian  of  Ceylon,  159  n.1 
Kane,  Hawaiian  deity,  15,  88,  188. 
Kapu.     See  Tabu. 
Karaja  of  Brazil,  182. 
Karakia,    Maori    magical    incantation 

and  prayer,  17  n2 
Karen  of  Burma,  56  sq. 
Kasuba  of  the  Madras  Presidency,  67. 
Kataharayan  of  Malabar,  67. 
Kataphang,  a  Nicobarese  festival,  40  sq. 
Kavirondo  of  British  East  Africa,  69. 
Kayan  of  Borneo,  6,  26  sqq.,  65  and  n.6, 

180. 

Kennie.     See  Genna. 
Kerepunu    of    British    New    Guinea, 

rest  day  observed  by  the,   103   and 

n*,  104. 
Kewan,    Assyrian    designation    of   the 

planet  Saturn,  244. 
Khamushtu,     the     Assyro-Babylonian, 

195  and  n2,  228. 

Khang,  the  Mro  term  for  rest  day,  55. 
Khasi  of  Assam,  54,  66,  106. 
Khnumhotep    II,    an    Egyptian    local 

ruler,  inscription  of,  167. 
Khullakpa  (gennabura),  the  secular  and 

religious  head  of  a  Naga  community, 

52  sq.,  53  n.1,  233  sq. 
Kiala,  a  Nicobarese  festival,  41  and  n.2 
Kiriwina,  island  of,  125  n? 
Koita  of  British  New  Guinea,  26  and 

n? 

Kopus,  a  Bontoc  Igorot  festival,  48. 
Koran,  the,  182. 

Korava  of  the  Madras  Presidency,  149. 
Korea,  287,  303  sq. 
Koryak  of  Siberia,  73  sq. 


Kota  of  the  Madras  Presidency,  88. 
Ku,  Hawaiian  deity,  15,  88. 
Kuki.     See  Lushei. 
Kwnara,  the,  16  sq.,  17  n.1 
Kwakiutl   of  British    Columbia,    cere- 
monial cannibalism  among  the,  71  n.* 

Labour,  remission  of,  during  a  tabooed 
or  unlucky  period.  See  Rest  days. 

Laliy  a  Kayan  term  for  taboo,  27  and 
n? 

Lalu.     See  Muhso. 

Land  Dyak  of  Sarawak,  36  sq.,  65. 

Lao  of  Siam,  66,  105,  184  n.2,  194  n3, 

201. 

Laodicea,  church  council  of,  269  n* 

Laotians.     See  Lao. 

Lapps,  the,  222. 

La  tabu,  Hawaiian  designation  of 
Sunday,  10. 

Laws  of  Manu,  the,  151,  152. 

Lemuria,  Roman  festival  of  the,  80, 
8 1  and  n.1,  94  and  n.2,  263  n.2 

Lengua  Indians  of  Paraguay,  the, 
129. 

Lex  Hortensia,  the,  121  and  n.3 

Liberia,  199  n.6 

Lithuanians,  the,  222. 

Loango,  market  days  kept  in,  109  sq. ; 
the  thirteenth  month  considered  un- 
lucky in,  177  n.2 

Lobengula,  a  Matabele  king,  75  n2 

Lolo,  the,  194. 

Lono,  Hawaiian  deity,  13,  15  n.1,  88. 

Lotz,  W.,  232  n.2,  235  n.1 

Luakini,  chief  temple  in  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  consecration  of  a,  1 1  sqq. 

Lu-Bat,  the  Babylonian  term,  213. 

Ludi,  the  Roman,  305  and  n.3,  306. 

Lumawig,  supreme  god  of  the  Bontoc 
Igorot,  47,  48  sq.,  88. 

Lumingu,  109. 

Lunar  fortnights,  182  sqq.,  239,  255. 
—  mansions,  the,  202,  274  sq.,  294  n.1 

weeks,  187  sq.,  253  sqq. 

Lunation,  beginning  of  the,  at  full 
moon,  119  n.3,  186  n.1;  length  of  the, 
174  n.1,  178;  division  of  the,  into 
two  fortnights,  182  sqq.,  239,  255. 

Lushei  (Kuki),  the,  54  sq. 

Luxus  sabbatarius,  the,  265. 

Luzon,  46  sqq.,  64,  88,  181. 


INDEX 


317 


Macassar,  205. 

'Macedonia,  unlucky  days  observed  in, 
222  n.3,  272,  278. 

Madagascar,  3,  70,  76,  107  n.\  132  sq., 
197,  275  and  n* 

Madnol,  the  Toda,  289  sqq. 

Madras  Presidency,  the,  66  sq.,  88,  89, 
132,  134,  149,  2S8sqq. 

Magicians,  34,  68,  285,  286  n.1,  287  sq. 

}    Makahiki,   the   Hawaiian   New  Year's 

festival,  13  and  n.2,  15  n.1,  23  n.1 

Making,  ancestral  spirits  of  the  Ibaloi 
Igorot,  49  n.1 

Makololo  of  British  South  Africa,  144. 

Malabar,  66  sq.,  89,  291  sq. 

Malagasy,  their  conception  of  taboo, 
3 ;  tabooed  days  observed  by  the, 
70,  76;  the  seven-day  week  of  the, 
107  n.2,  197  and  n.2;  their  lunar 
superstitions,  132  sq. ;  their  lucky 
and  unlucky  days,  275,  294  sq. 

Malanau  of  Sarawak,  208. 

Malay  Peninsula,  64,  105,  204,  286. 

Maldive  Islands,  the,  201. 

Mamit,  the  Babylonian  term  for 
taboo,  6,  231. 

Mana,  magical  power,  5,  17,  86. 

Manahiki  (Humphrey  Island),  21. 

Mandingo  of  the  Sudan,  132,  141. 

Manipur,  tabooed  days  observed  in, 
49  sqq.,  65  sq. 

Manitou,  5. 

Manyema  of  Belgian  Congo,  108. 

Maori  of  New  Zealand,  16  sq.,  17  n.2, 
128,  177  n.1,  181  n.7,  183,  188  and 
n.1,  214  n.,  285. 

Marang,  the  Garo  term  for  taboo,  54. 

March,  unlucky  days  of,  in  Greek 
lands,  284. 

Marduk,  Babylonian  god,  214,  229, 
232,  241  n.1 

Mariner,  William,  18  n.1 

Markets,  rise  of,  103,  117;  character- 
istic features  of,  among  semi-civilized 
peoples,  105,  107,  108.  See  also 
Market  days. 

Market  days,  observance  of,  in  New 
Guinea  and  Melanesia,  103  sq. ;  in 
Celebes,  Sumatra,  and  Java,  104  sq. ; 
in  Tonkin,  Siam,  Burma,  and  Assam, 
105  sq.,  194  n.3;  in  Africa,  106  sqq. ; 
in  Mexico,  Central  America,  Colom- 


bia, and  Peru,  118  sqq. ;    in  ancient 
Rome,  120  sqq. ;    restrictions  attend- 
ing, not  connected  with  lunar  super- 
stitions, 148. 
weeks,  length  of,  117  sq. ;    origin 

of,    1 1 8,    148,    187,    193.     See    also 

Market  days. 
Markheshwan,  the  eighth  month  of  the 

Babylonian  year,  224  and  n.2,  297. 
Marquesas  Islands,  the,  15  sq.,  16  n.1 
Marriages  not  celebrated  during  a 

tabooed  or  unlucky  period,  67,  80, 

81,   137,   171,  209,  263  n?,  273   n.8, 

278,  285,  286. 

Masai,  the  seven-day  week  of  the,  197  sq. 
Matabele  of  South  Africa,  restrictions 

observed  by  the  king  of  the,  75  n? 
May,  an  unlucky  month  for  marriage, 

263  n.2 

Mayas  of  Yucatan,  174,  280  sq. 
Mbaki.     See  Nanga. 
Mbalolo,  22. 
Mbure,   the   men's   house   in    the    Fiji 

Islands,  22. 
Mechoacan,  tabooed  days  observed  after 

the  death  of  a  ruler  of,  70  sq. 
Medicine,    practice    of,    by    the    Land 

Dyak  of  Borneo,  38  n.4 
Meinhold,  J.,  253  n.6,  254. 
Meithei  of  Manipur,  54  and  n.1 
Mekeo  District  of  British  New  Guinea, 

103. 
Melo,  a  Kay  an  term  for  rest  day,  32 

and  n.3,  33,  65  n.6 
Mendi  of  Sierra  Leone,  148  n.1 
Men's  house,  the,  22,  40  and  n.2 
Menstruation,  superstitions  relating  to, 

69  n.2,  125;    supposed  connection  of 

the  moon  with,  127  sqq. 
Mentawi  Islands,  the,  43  sq.,  44  n.1,  181. 
Mexicans,   market   days   kept   by  the, 

1 1 8,   119  and  n.1;    calendar  of  the, 

174,  186  and  n2,  279  sq. ;    unlucky 

days  of  the,  280;    saints'  days  ob- 
served by  the  modern,  306. 
Miao  (Miao-tse),  the,  57. 
Middle   Ages,    observance   of  unlucky 

days  during  the,  273,  299  sqq. 
Mikir  of  Assam,  54. 
Mindanao,  45  sq. 
Mishmi,  the,  54  and  n.6 
Mishna,  the,  263  sq. 


INDEX 


Missionaries,  observance  of  Sunday 
introduced  by,  10  and  w.3,  73  n.2, 
75,  188  n.1,  209,  210,  295. 

Mithra,  a  Persian  deity,  202,  220  and  n? 

Mohammed,  175,  206. 

Molucca  Islands,  the,  64  and.  n? 

Mommsen,  Theodor,  on  the  Roman 
nundinum,  193  n? 

Monday,  an  unlucky  day  in  Germany, 
127  and  n.s;  in  India,  consecrated 
to  Siva,  201 ;  the  first  day  of  the 
week  in  Slavic  countries,  222;  an 
unlucky  day  among  the  Jews,  274. 

Mondunga  of  Belgian  Congo,  117  n.1 

Mongelima  of  Belgian  Congo,  117  n.1 

Mongolia,  the  Buddhist  Sabbath  in,  163. 

Month,  the  lunar,  13  n2,  156  n.3,  166, 
169,  170,  173  sqq.,  226  sqq.,  247; 
intercalation  of  a  thirteenth,  177 
and  n.2,  224,  247  n.2,  276 ;  beginning 
of  the,  178  sq.,  226  sq.,  248  sq. ; 
division  of  the,  by  the  waxing  and 
waning  moon,  182  sqq. ;  the  sidereal, 
274  n.2 

Moon,  tabooed  or  unlucky  periods  ob- 
served in  connection  with  changes 
of  the,  14  sq.,  20,  32  and  n.2,  34 
and  n.1,  37,  52  n.1,  60,  88,  131  sqq., 
143  sqq.,  146  sq.,  149  sqq.,  224  sq., 
233,  241,  246,  256  sqq.',  eclipses  of 
the,  marked  by  taboos,  42,  50  sq., 
134  sq. ;  supposed  deleterious  in- 
fluence of  the,  125  sqq. ;  associated 
with  impregnation  and  childbirth, 
127  sqq. ;  influence  of,  on  the  tides, 
130;  supposed  influence  of,  on  the 
growth  of  vegetation,  130  sq.;  doc- 
trine of  lunar  sympathy,  131  sqq. ; 
superstitions  relating  to  the  inter- 
lunium,  136  sqq. ;  as  the  measure  of 
time,  173  sqq. ;  day  of  the  new,  how 
calculated,  174  n.1,  179,  184,  226  sq., 
248  sq. ;  phases  of  the,  closely  ob- 
served by  savage  and  barbarous 
peoples,  180  sqq.,  238  sq. ;  day  of  the 
full,  how  calculated,  182  n.7,  227; 
division  of  the  lunation  into  two 
periods,  182  sqq.,  239,  255;  impor- 
tance of  the,  to  the  early  Hebrews, 
246  sq.;  Hebrew  cult  of  the,  247, 
248  n.1  See  also  Full  moon,  Lunar 
mansions,  and  New  moon. 


Moonshine,  supposed  noxious  influence 

of,  125  sqq. 
Morocco,  70,  83,  258. 
Moses,  244  n.3,  261. 

Motu  of  British  New  Guinea,  26  and  n.9 
Mpongwe  of  French  Equatorial  Africa, 

their  conception  of  taboo,  3. 
Mro,  the,  55. 

Muhso  (Lalu),  the,  57,  194  n.9 
Mundus  patet,  81. 
Muppan  of  Malabar,  66  sq. 
Music,  astrological  notions  relating  to, 

217  and  n.2 
Muysca  of  Colombia,  market  days  kept 

by  the,  119  and  n.9 

Naga  of  Manipur,  tabooed  days  ob- 
served by  the,  49  sqq.9  65  sq.,  134,  234. 

Nail-paring,  superstitions  relating  to, 
91  n.*,  151,  300. 

Nakshatra,  the  Hindu,  275. 

Namungba,  the  Meithei  term  for  taboo, 

54- 

Na  na  ai,  the  Kachin  term  for  rest  day, 
56. 

Nandi  of  British  East  Africa,  68  sq., 
69  n2,  132,  181  sq.,  210. 

Nanga,  a  secret  association  in  Fiji, 
23  and  n.1 

Nannar,  a  Babylonian  moon-god,  226. 

Nannaru,  Babylonian  name  of  new- 
moon  day,  226,  239. 

Narnaka,  inscription  of,  240. 

Nehemiah,  262. 

Nemontemiy  the,  Mexican  epagomenal 
days,  280  and  n.1 

Nepal,  155,  201. 

Nestorian  Monument,  the,  202  and  n.3 

New  Britain,  180. 

Caledonia,  104  and  n.4,  180. 

Georgia,  island  of,  186  n.1 

Hebrides,  the,  209. 

Mexico,  190. 

South  Wales,  128. 

Zealand,  16  sq.,  17  n.2,  128,  177  n.1, 

181  n.7,  183,  188  and  n.1,  214  n.,  285. 

New  moon,  18  n.,  20,  37,  125  and  n.3, 
132,  133,  136  sq.,  140  sqq.,  174  *-1, 
179,  1 80,  181  n.7,  184  sq.,  1 86,  187, 
226  sqq.,  238  sqq.,  246,  248  sqq.,  253, 
254,  255  sq.,  260. 

New  Year's  festival,  Hawaiian,  13  and 


INDEX 


319 


n.8,  88;  Maori,  17  «.2;  Fijian,  22 
and  n?,  23  w.1 ;  Kayan,  31;  Balinese, 
42  j£. ;  Muhso,  57;  Hebrew,  82, 
235  «•*»  256;  Babylonian,  276  n.2 

Ngoma,  Akikuyu  ancestral  spirits,  6. 

Nias,  island  of,  43,  181,  183. 

Nicobar  Islands,  the,  40  sq.y  64,  165 
and  n.2,  181. 

Nielsen,  D.,  143  n.1,  237. 

Nigeria  (Northern),  116  n.1,  117  n.1; 
(Southern),  78,  101  n.1,  in  sg.,  182, 
187  w.1 

Nine  as  a  symbolic  number,  120  n.a 

Nineteenth  day  of  the  month,  ob- 
servance of  the,  in  Babylonia,  224 
and  n*,  232  n.9,  235  n.1,  257  sq. 

Niu,  casting  the,  a  Maori  method  of 
divination,  17. 

Noa,  14. 

Nones,  the,  120  n.2,  170,  171,  185  an<f 
n.1,  305. 

Northern  Territory  of  South  Australia, 
180. 

Noumenia,  the  Greek  new-moon  day, 
169  sq.,  184. 

Novemdiales  feria,  99,  120  n.2 

Nubattu,  the  Babylonian,  241  n.1 

Numa,  94  sq.,  121  n.1 

Numbers,  prejudice  against  even,  94, 
178  n.1,  185;  symbolism  of,  120  n.2, 
206  /^g. 

Nundina,  Roman  market  days,  92  «., 
94  n.3,  1 20  j^r. 

Nundinum,  Roman  market  week,  120, 
122,  193  and  n.3,  219. 

Nycthemeron,  the,  179  n.1,  218  n.1 

Octad,  the,  193  sq. 

Odyssey,  the,  169,  211. 

Ogboni,  a  Yoruba  secret  society,  78  n.2 

Ogun,  a  Yoruba  god,  114  n. 

Omens,  Kayan,  28  sq.,  31  sq. ;    Iban, 

33   sq. ;    Bontoc  Igorot,  48;    Naga, 

Son.1 
Ominous  animals,  cult  of,  in   Borneo, 

27,  28  sq.,  32,  34,  59  n? 
Orenda,  5,  86. 
Origen,  270. 
Ornaments  not  worn  during  a  tabooed 

or  unlucky  period,  63,  65,  67,  70. 
Oro,  a  Slave  Coast  deity,  78  and  n? 
Orunda,  the  Mpongwe  term  for  taboo,  3. 


Osiris,  identified  with  the  moon,  129  n.6, 

1 68  sq. 
Ovid,  245,  263  n.2,  266. 

Padi,    or    rice,    taboos    affecting    the 

cultivation   of,    in    Borneo,   27   sqq.y 

37.  39  *•* 
Paganalia,     Roman     festival    of    the, 

96  and  n.1 

Pagi  Islands,  the,  43. 
Paharia  of  British  Sikkim,  67. 
Palolo  worm,  the,  22  and  n? 
Pamali,  a  Land  Dyak  term  for  taboo, 

36  sq.,  37  n.1 
Pantang,   the  Malay  term   for  taboo, 

27  n.8,  204. 
Papyrus  Saltier  IV,  the,  296  and  n.1, 

297. 

Paraguay,  129. 
Parentalia,    Roman    festival    of    the, 

80,  8 1  and  n.1,  94  n? 
Parsis,  lucky  and  unlucky  days  of  the, 

1 66  n.1,  273  n.3 
Pasar,    Javanese    market    week,    105, 

165  n.» 

Passover,  the,  250. 
Patani  States  of  the  Malay  Peninsula, 

64,  204. 
Patimokkha,  the  disciplinary  and  penal 

code    of    Buddhism,     157    and    n.8, 

163  and  «.B 
Paul,  St.,  269. 
Pentad,  the,  194  sqq. 
Perfumes  and  unguents  not  used  during 

a  tabooed  or  unlucky  period,  I,  152, 

155.  158. 

Permantong,  a  Kayan  term  for  taboo, 
27  and  n.3 

Persians,  the  seven-day  week  of  the, 
201  n.4 ;  lunar  mansions  of  the,  275 ; 
their  epagomenal  days,  282.  Set 
also  Iranians. 

Peruvians,  market  days  kept  by  the, 
119  sq. ;  the  seven-day  week  un- 
known to  the,  120  n.1;  their  lunar 
superstitions,  129,  141 ;  calendar  of 
the,  174,  1 86,  190. 

Petara,  Sea  Dyak  gods,  35  n.2,  42  sq. 

Pharisees,  the,  265,  269. 

Philippine  Islands,  the,  44  sqq.,  64,  88. 

Philo  Judaeus,  261  «.6,  266. 

Phoenicians,  the,  212  n.1,  240. 


320 


INDEX 


Pidiu,  the  Ibaloi  Igorot  term  for  taboo, 
49  n.1 

Pinches,  T.  G.,  on  the  meaning  of 
shabattum,  237,  238  n.4 

Pitara.     See  Petara. 

Planetary  or  astrological  week,  in 
India,  200,  292;  in  southeastern 
Asia,  201;  in  China,  202  sq. ;  in 
Japan,  203  sq. ;  in  the  Malay  Penin- 
sula, 204;  in  Sumatra,  Java,  and 
Bali,  205;  origin  of  the,  215  sqq. ; 
introduction  of  the,  into  the  Occi- 
dent, 219;  adopted  by  Christianity, 

220  sq. ;     its    diffusion    in    Europe, 

221  sq. ;  in  Afghanistan,  293. 
Planets,    differentiation    of   the,    from 

the  fixed  stars,  213;  identification 
of  the,  with  deities  of  the  Babylonian 
pantheon,  214  sq. ;  the  planetary 
week,  215  sqq. ;  in  Mithraism,  220 
n.» 

Plato,  on  festival  days,  91. 

Pleiades  calendars,  176  sq.,  225  and  n? 

Pliny  the  Younger,  268  n.1 

Plutarch,  264  n.1,  266. 

Plynteria,  Athenian  festival  of  the, 
92  sq. 

Pomali,  a  Malay  term  for  taboo,  64. 

Pompeii,  inscriptions  from,  relating  to 
the  planetary  week,  219. 

Pompey  the  Great,  216,  266. 

Porikh.     See  Pamali. 

Portugal,  names  of  the  weekdays  in, 
221  n.z 

Portuguese  East  Africa,  190. 

Posadha,  the,  in  China,  163  n.6 

Posaha,  the  Jain,  154  sq. 

Poya  days,  observed  in  Ceylon,  158, 
159  and  n.1 

Prascovia,  St.,  222  n.2 

Prayer,  nature  of  Hawaiian,  12  n.z 

Pre-animistic  sanctions  of  taboos,  4  sq., 

75,  S3- 

Ptolemy,  Greek  astronomer,  216. 

Puberty,  taboos  imposed  on  the  attain- 
ment of,  7,  69  n.2;  initiation  at, 
among  the  Fijians,  23  and  n.1,  24; 
among  the  Yao,  125. 

Pula,  the,  194. 

Punan,  the  term  for  taboo  in  the 
Mentawi  Islands,  43  sq. 

Punjab,  the,  137  sq. 


Purim,  Hebrew  festival  of,  276  n? 
Pyramid  Texts,  the,  166  sq.,  281. 
Python,  cult  of  the,  in  Uganda,  146. 

Ra,  Egyptian  god,  258. 

Radama  I,  Malagasy  king,  197. 

Ratu-mai-Mbulu,  a  Fijian  deity,  21. 

Reformation,  the,  301,  306. 

Reinach,  S.,  257  n.1 

Rendile  of  British  East  Africa,  198  sq. 

Rest  days,  characteristics  of  primitive, 
I ;  connection  of,  with  the  institution 
of  taboo,  i  sq. ;  in  Hawaii,  9  sqq., 
88,  188,  233,  303 ;  in  the  Society 
Islands  and  the  Marquesas  Islands, 

15  sq.,    16  n.1;    among  the  Maori, 

16  sq.,  17  n.2;   in  the  Tonga  Islands, 
18   and  n.2,   19;  in   Samoa,   19  sq. ; 
in  New  Guinea,  26  and  n.1',    among 
the  Kayan  of  Borneo,  27  sqq. ;  among 
the    Iban    or    Sea    Dyak,  33    sqq. ; 
among  the  Land  Dyak,  36  sqq. ;    in 
the    Nicobar    Islands,    40    sq.,    165; 
in   Bali,  41    sqq. ;    in   the    Mentawi 
Islands,  43  sq. ;    in  the  Philippines, 
44  sqq.',    in    Manipur,   49  sqq.;    in 
Assam,  53  sqq. ;    in  Burma,  55  sqq. ; 
among  the  aborigines  of  southwestern 
China,  57  sq.,  194;    a  characteristic 
feature  of  Indo-Chinese  culture,  58; 
compared  with  the  couvade,  58  sq. ; 
psychological  and  sociological  aspects 
of,  59  sq. ;    mark  critical  epochs  in 
the  communal  life,  60  sq. ;    observed 
after  a  death,  62  sqq.,  84;  observance 
of,  in  Africa,  during  seasons  of  ghost- 
riddance  and  demon-riddance,  74  sqq. ; 
observed     in     connection    with    the 
proceedings   of  west   African    secret 
societies,  77  sq. ;  the  Greek  airoQpddcs 
ijfjitpai.  as,  79  sq.,  84,  92  sq.,  139  sq.; 
the  Roman  dies  religiosi  as,  80  sq., 
84,  93  sq.,  170  sq.,  273 ;   the  Hebrew 
Day    of  Atonement    and    Feast    of 
Trumpets    as,    81     sqq. ;     the    Mo- 
hammedan  Feast   of  Sacrifices,    83 ; 
festivals  observed  as,  85  sqq. ;  among 
the     Dravidian     peoples     of    India, 
88  sqq. ;    the  Hebrew  Day  of  First- 
fruits,    90   sq. ;     Greek    festivals    as, 
91  sqq.,  169  sq.,  211  sq.,  304;   Roman 
festivals    as,    93    sqq.,    121    sq.^ijo, 


INDEX 


321 


304  sqq. ;  observed  in  connection 
with  agricultural  operations,  101 
and  n.1,  102;  market  days  as, 
163  sq.,  104  n.,  109  sqq.,  Il8,  119  sqq. ; 
observed  in  connection  with  the 
waning  moon,  131  sqq. ;  observed 
during  lunar  eclipses,  134  sq. ;  ob- 
served during  the  interlunium, 
136  sqq.;  observed  at  changes  of 
the  moon,  143 ;  lunar  days  as,  in 
Africa,  144  sqq. ;  lunar  taboos  in 
modern  India,  148  sq. ;  the  ancient 
Aryan  upavasatha  as  a  Sabbath, 
149  sqq. ;  Sabbatarian  character  of 
lunar  days  in  Brahmanism,  151  sqq.; 
the  Jain  posaha,  154  sq. ;  the  Buddhist 
Sabbath,  or  uposatha,  155  sqq. ;  dif- 
fusion of  the  Buddhist  Sabbath, 
158  sqq. ;  new  moon  and  full  moon 
as,  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 

169  sq. ;  the  dies  postriduani,  170  sq. ; 
in   Madagascar  and   eastern  Africa, 
197  sqq. ;    of  the  American  Indians, 
197  n.1,  303   n.3;    not  observed  by 
the  Chinese,  203  and  n.1,  303  sq. ;   in 
Japan,    203    sq. ;     not    observed    by 
the    Javanese,    205    n.4;     in    Islam, 
205  sq. ;    seventh  days  observed  as, 
208  sqq. ;    in  Christianity,  220  sqq., 
269   sqq.,    306   sqq. ;     in    Mithraism, 
220  n.3;  the  Babylonian  "evil  days" 
as,  223,  232  sqq.,  235  n.1,  236,  241, 
254;   the  Hebrew  Sabbath,  242  sqq.', 
the  Christian  Sunday,  267  sqq. ;   un- 
lucky  days   observed    as,    272   sqq. ; 
social  and  economic  significance  of, 
302  sqq. 

Rex  sacrorum,  the  Roman,  97,  170. 

Rig-Veda,  the,  177  n.*,  276,  277. 

Rivers,  W.  H.  R.,  on  the  lunar  super- 
stitions of  the  Toda,  132;  on  their 
sacred  days,  288  sqq. 

Roman  Church,  names  of  the  week- 
days in  the  calendar  of  the,  221  n? 

Romance  countries,  names  of  the  week- 
days in,  221  and  n? 

Romans,  ancient,  unlucky  days  of  the, 
80  and  n*,  81,  84,  93  sq.,  94  n?, 

170  sq.,    171    n.s,   273 ;    festivals   of 
the,   80  sq.,   93   sqq.,    121   sqq.,    170, 
304   sqq. ;     their   market   week    and 
market  days,  92  n.,  94  n.3,  120  sqq., 

Y 


193  and  n.8,  219;  their  lunar  calen- 
dar, 170,  184  sq. 

Romulus,  94,  121,  177  n.1 

Rongker,  the  Mikir  term  for  rest  day,  54. 

Roro-speaking  peoples  of  British  New 
Guinea,  26. 

Russia,  Friday  an  unlucky  day  in, 
222  n? ;  saints'  days  observed  in,  307. 

Sabbatarian  regulations,  penalties  for 
disobedience  of,  10,  20,  46  sq.,  113, 
160,  161,  261  sq.,  290;  how  evaded, 
264,  289  sq.,  293  n.9 

Sabbath,  the  Hebrew,  10  n.4,  91,  96  n.1, 
98  n.4,  104  n.,  109,  122,  148,  179  n.1, 
235,  236  and  n.,  242  sqq.,  291  sq.,  304. 

Day's  journey,  length  of  a,  251  n.5, 

264. 

Sabbatical  Year,  the  Hebrew,  236  «., 
260  sqq. 

Sacer,  the  Latin  term  for  taboo,  3  and 
w.6 

Saints'  days,  observance  of,  306  sq. 

Samoa,  village  deities  of,  19  sq. ;  tabooed 
days  observed  in,  19  sq.,  24. 

Sanhedrin,  the,  247  n.2,  248. 

Sansculottides,  the,  283. 

Saoria  of  Bengal,  137. 

Sarawak,  27  sqq.,  33  sqq.,  65,  208. 

Sarhul,  a  Uraon  festival,  89. 

Sarpanit,  Babylonian  goddess,  241  n.1 

Saturday,  an  unlucky  day,  92  n.,  201, 
222  n.3,  244  n3,  245 ;  names  applied 
to,  188  n.1,  221,  222  and  n?\  change 
from,  to  Sunday,  as  the  first  day  of 
the  planetary  week,  220  sq.,  268; 
Saturn's  Day  and,  243  sqq. ;  ec- 
clesiastical recognition  of,  as  a  holy 
day,  269  and  n* 

Saturn,  supposed  consecration  of  the 
nundina  to,  122  n?;  the  planet, 
213,  243  sqq.  See  also  Saturday. 

Sayce,  A.  H.,  on  the  khamushtu,  195  n.* 

Scapegoat,  the  Hebrew,  81  sqq. 

Schiaparelli,  G.,  213,  235  n.1,  261  n.* 

Scotland,  abstinence  from  work  after 
a  death  observed  in,  74;  lunar 
superstitions  in,  133 ;  observance  of 
Saturday  in,  270  n. ;  unlucky  days 
observed  in,  279. 

Sea  Dyak.     See  Iban. 

Seclusion   necessary  during  a  tabooed 


322 


INDEX 


or  unlucky  period,  I,  9,  10,  12,  15, 
20,  22,  26,  28  sq.,  36,  38,  39,  41,  42, 
44>  S3.  56,  58  J?.,  64,  65,  69  w.2, 
71,  74,  78,  115  «-4>  I47>  232  sq., 
257,  280,  295,  296,  297.  See  also 
Strangers,  exclusion  of. 

Secret  societies,  in  Fiji,  23  and  n.\  24 ; 
in  west  Africa,  77  sq.,  in. 

Selene,  130,  139  sq. 

Seligmann,  C.  G.,  26  n.9,  101  n.1 

Seminoles  of  Florida,  71. 

Sepi,  the  Balinese  term  for  rest  day,  42. 

Sequani  of  Gaul,  186  w.1 

Servius  Tullius,  121. 

Seven,  as  a  symbolic  number,  208  sqq., 
225  and  n.2,  229  sqq. 

Seven-day  week,  the,  in  New  Caledonia, 
104  and  n.4;  in  the  island  of  Bali, 
105;  in  the  Malay  Peninsula,  105, 
204 ;  among  the  Guinea  and  Sudanese 
negroes,  115  sqq.,  199;  not  known 
to  the  Peruvians,  120  n.1 ;  in  Sumatra, 
1 80;  in  New  Zealand,  188  n.1;  in 
Indo-China,  189;  unknown  to  the 
Egyptians,  191  n.1,  245  sq. ;  Abyssin- 
ian, 194  n.1',  origin  and  diffusion  of 
the,  196  sq. ;  in  Madagascar  and 
eastern  Africa,  197  sq. ;  in  India, 
199  sqq.,  292;  in  southeastern  Asia, 
201 ;  in  central  and  northern  Asia, 
201  w.4 ;  in  China,  202  sq. ;  in  Japan, 

203  sq. ;    in  the  Malay  Archipelago, 

204  sq. ;    of  the  Arabs,  205  sq. ;    the 
planetary  or  astrological,   215   sqq.', 
in    Babylonia,    224    sq.,    227    sqq., 
253  sq. ;    of  the  Hebrews,  253  sqq. ; 
of    the    early    Christians,    267;     of 
the  Toda,  292;  in  Afghanistan,  293. 
See    also    Planetary   or    astrological 
week. 

Seventh  day,  the,  205,  208  sqq.,  224, 
232  sq.,  243,  244  n?,  299. 

Sexual  intercourse,  prohibited  during  a 
tabooed  or  unlucky  period,  10,  15, 
39  and  n?,  58,  no,  134,  146,  151, 
152,  ISS»  158,  233,  296  sq.,  298; 
effect  of  illicit,  on  the  crops,  36  n. 

Shabattum,  Babylonian  name  of  full- 
moon  day,  81  n.3,  235  sqq.,  251. 

Shabbdth,  original  meaning  of  the 
Hebrew  term,  251,  252,  253  ;  used  in 
the  general  sense  of  "week,"  253  n.2 


shabbdtkon,  the  Hebrew,  81  and 

n.3,  82,  251,  260. 

Shabbdthon,  the  Hebrew,  235  and  n? 

Shabbti,  Jewish  designation  of  the 
planet  Saturn,  244. 

Shamash,  Babylonian  sun-god,  239. 

Shan  of  Burma,  105  sq. 

Shaving,  superstitions  relating  to,  92  n. 

Shib'a,  Jewish  period  of  strict  mourn- 
ing after  a  death,  74. 

Shropshire,  279. 

Siam,  tabooed  days  observed  in,  66; 
market  days  kept  in,  105,  194  n.z, 
the  Buddhist  Sabbath  in,  161  sq. ; 
bipartite  division  of  the  month  em- 
ployed in,  184;  the  seven-day  week 
in,  201. 

Siberia,  73  sq.,  126,  132,  201  n.4 

Sickness,  taboos  imposed  in  connection 
with,  24,  25,  34  sq.,  36,  38,  39,  42, 
43  sqq.,  51,  60. 

Sierra  Leone,  148  n.1 

Sikkim,  67. 

Silence  observed  during  a  tabooed  or 
unlucky  period,  I,  9  sq.,  II,  12  and 
n?,  14,  16  n.1,  20,  21,  22,  26,  41,  42, 
44,  62,  67,  77,  151,  278,  297. 

Sin,  a  Babylonian  moon-god,  126,  129, 
139,  226,  228  sq.,  239,  240,  248  n.1 

Sinaugolo  of  British  New  Guinea,  a 
division  of  time  formerly  observed 
by  the,  101  n.1 

Singer,  Jacob,  249  n? 

Slave  Coast  of  west  Africa,  77  sq.,  112, 
113  sq.,  187. 

Slavic  peoples,  names  of  the  weekdays 
among,  222. 

Smith,  H.  P.,  249  n? 

Smith,  W.  R.,  4  n.,  86  n.\  252. 

Society  Islands,  the,  9,  15  sq.,  181  n.7 

Safalese  of  Portuguese  East  Africa, 
190  and  n? 

Solevu  ni  vilavou,  a  Fijian  New  Year's 
festival,  23  n.1 

Soma,  the  intoxicating  juice  of  the 
moon-plant,  150  sq.,  158  n.1 

Somali,  the,  199,  210. 

South  Australia,  180. 

Soydluna,  a  Hopi  Indian  festival,  303 
n3 

Spartans,  religious  scruples  of  the, 
133  n.3 


INDEX 


323 


Spencer,  John,  on  the  origin  of  the 
Sabbath  in  Egypt,  245. 

Spirits.     See  Demons. 

Strabo,  on  festival  days,  85. 

Strangers,  exclusion  of,  during  a  tabooed 
or  unlucky  period,  I,  20,  24,  27,  29  sq., 
35,  36,  37,  39  n.\  42  sq.,  44,  45  sq., 
49  n.1,  So,  55,  56,  57  «*<f  «-2»  66. 

Stseelis  of  British  Columbia,  197  n.1 

Subanu  of  Mindanao,  45  sq. 

Sudan,  the,  69  n.2,  116  n.1,  132,  141. 

Sulla,  100. 

Sumatra,  104  jy.,  180  sq.,  183,  204  jg., 
214  n.,  285  jf . 

Sun,  worship  of  the,  in  modern  India, 
153  sq. 

Sunday,  observance  of,  by  native  con- 
verts to  Christianity,  10  and  n.9, 
73  «-2,  75,  H4  n.t  188  n.1,  209,  210, 
295;  an  unlucky  day,  92  n.,  137, 
201;  legislation  of  Constantine  re- 
lating to,  122  sq.y  220;  markets 
held  on,  during  the  Middle  Ages, 
123  and  «.2;  in  Siam,  162;  in  India, 
200  n.3,  201 ;  among  the  Lao,  201 ; 
in  China,  202  and  n.s;  in  Japan, 
203  sq. ',  becomes  the  first  day  of 
the  planetary  week,  220  sq.,  268; 
how  named  by  the  early  Christians, 
267  and  n.3;  how  observed  by  the 
early  Christians,  267  sq. ;  comes  to 
be  regarded  as  a  rest  day,  269  sqq. 

legislation,  122  sq.,  270  sq. 

Sundyak.     See  Dusun. 

Superstition,  sociological  aspects  of, 
63  n.2,  302,  307  sq. 

Sutta  Nipata,  the,  157. 

Swaheli  of  German  East  Africa,  76,  197. 

Tabernacles,  Hebrew  Feast  of,  236  «., 
250,  251. 

Taboo,  derivation  of  the  word,  2; 
ideas  involved  in,  2  sq. ;  definition 
of,  3 ;  conception  of,  widely  dif- 
fused, ib.;  how  classified,  4;  pre- 
animistic  character  of,  4  sq. ;  sup- 
ported by  animistic  sanctions,  5  sq. ; 
conceptions  of  abstinence  and  propi- 
tiation involved  in,  6  sq. ;  social 
aspects  of,  7,  25,  38  sq.,  59  sq.,  95; 
holiness  and,  86  and  n.1 

Tabu,    the    Polynesian    conception    of, 


2  and  n.*;  compared  with  the 
Hebrew  conception,  10  n.4;  com- 
pared with  the  Babylonian  mamit, 
231. 

Tacitus,  on  the  origin  of  the  Sabbath, 
245*.* 

Tahiti,  observance  of  Sunday  in,  10. 

Tambo  nalanga,  a  Fijian  New  Year's 
festival,  22  and  n? 

Tambu,  the  Melanesian  term  for  taboo, 

3- 

Tame,  the  Hebrew  term  for  taboo,  4  n. 

Tamil-speaking  peoples  of  southern 
India,  village  festivals  of  the,  89  sq. 

Tapu.     See  Tabu. 

Tarentum,  festivals  of  ancient,  304. 

Tashi  Lama,  tabooed  days  observed 
after  the  death  of  the,  67. 

Tatars,  the,  132. 

Tattooing,  superstitions  relating  to, 
53  w.a 

Telugu-speaking  peoples  of  southern 
India,  village  festivals  of  the,  89  sq. 

Tenasserim,  161  n.1 

Tengao  (tengau),  the  Bontoc  Igorot 
term  for  rest  day,  46  and  n?,  88. 

Tengau.     See  Tengao. 

Tertullian,  on  the  proper  observance  of 
Sunday,  268  n.9,  269,  270  and  n.1  , 

Thahu,  the  Akikuyu  term  for  taboo,  6. 

Thessaly,  unlucky  days  observed  in, 
222  n.3 

Thor,  221  n? 

Thothmes  III,  inscription  of,  167  sq. 

Thursday,  observance  of,  as  a  holy  day, 
221  n.8 

Tiberius,  Roman  emperor,  305. 

Tibet,  tabooed  days  observed  in,  67; 
the  Buddhist  Sabbath  in,  162  sq.; 
the  seven-day  week  in,  201;  un- 
lucky days  observed  in,  287  sq. 

Tibullus,  244  sq.,  266. 

Tides,  influence  of  the  moon  on  the,  130. 

Timor,  island  of,  63. 

Tippera,  the,  55. 

Titi  Usi,  Samoan  village  deity,  20. 

Toda  of  the  Madras  Presidency,  be- 
liefs of,  relating  to  the  moon,  132, 
134;  their  reckoning  of  the  lunation, 
179;  their  sacred  days,  288  sqq. 

Tofoke  of  Belgian  Congo,  190. 

Togo,  114  and  n.3,  115,  182. 


INDEX 


Toh,  the  Kayan  spirits,  6. 

Tonga  Islands,  the,  18  and  n2,  19. 

Tonkin,  105,  189. 

Tooitonga,  Tonga  divine  chief,  18,  19. 

Torres  Straits,  islands  of,  128  and  n? 

Toy,  C.  H.,  on  the  meaning  of  sha- 
battum,  238. 

Trading  not  allowed  during  a  tabooed 
or  unlucky  period,  42,  43,  67,  71, 
i$i>  I55»  159,  300. 

Travel  prohibited  during  a  tabooed  or 
unlucky  period,  7,  20,  21,'  26,  49  n.1, 
64,  68,  83,  115  n.4,  136,  151,  171, 
190  n.4,  198,  201,  210,  232,  233, 
241  n.1,  273  w.8,  275,  285,  289,  293, 

297,  298,  301- 

Trumpets,  Hebrew  Feast  of,  82. 
Tshi-speaking    peoples    of    the    Gold 

Coast,    tabooed    days    observed    by 

the,     112,     113,     115;     their    lunar 

weeks,    187  and  n.2;    unlucky  days 

of  the,  272. 
Tuesday,    an    unlucky    day,    201,    272 

and  n? ;  a  lucky  day,  273  sq. 
Tuhoe  of  New  Zealand,  beliefs  of  the, 

relating  to  the  moon,  128. 
Tui  Tokelau,  Polynesian  divinity,  20  sq. 
Tullus  Hostilius,  Roman  king,  99. 
Tungthu  of  Tenasserim,  161  n.1 
Twelve  Days,  the,  of  the  early  Aryans, 

276  sq. ;  in  European  folklore,  277  sqq. 


Ubone,  or  duty  days,  observed  in 
Burma,  159  sqq.t  161  n.1 

Ucharal,  a  festival  celebrated  in  Mala- 
bar, 89. 

Uganda,  69  sq.,  75  sq.,   129,   145  sqq.t 

~  H7  n* 

Um  nukh  libbi,  236,  241. 

Union  Islands,  the,  20  sq. 

United  States,  the,  lunar  superstitions 
in,  127,  140  n? 

Unleavened  Bread,  Hebrew  Feast  of, 
I79W.1,  250,  251. 

Unlucky  days,  of  the  ancient  Greeks, 
79  and  n.3,  80  and  n.1,  84,  92  sq., 
139  and  n.*,  140;  of  the  ancient 
Romans,  80  sq.,  84,  93  sq.,  170  sq., 
273  ;  African,  in  n.3,  190  n2,  190  n.3, 
272 ;  German,  127,  278  sq. ;  in  Ceylon, 
159  n.1;  in  the  Malay  Peninsula, 


162  w.4,  286;  Persian,  166  n.1,  282; 
Malagasy,  197  n.2,  275,  294  sq.; 
Hindu,  201,  275;  Russian,  222  n.2; 
modern  Greek,  222  n.3,  272  n.2, 
284  sq. ;  Babylonian,  241  n.1,  297  sq. ; 
Egyptian,  258,  282,  295  sqq.,  304; 
Hebrew,  263  and  n.2;  origin  of  be- 
liefs in,  272,  274,  276,  283;  Mace- 
donian, 272,  273  n.3,  278,  284  and 
n.1;  mediaeval  superstitions  concern- 
ing, 273,  299  sqq. ;  Burmese,  273  n.3, 
302 ;  Abyssinian,  276  n. ;  in  the 
British  Isles,  279;  Mexican,  279  sq.; 
Maya,  280  sq.  ;  Maori,  285 ;  in 
Sumatra,  285  sq. ;  Chinese,  286  sq. ; 
Korean,  287 ;  Japanese,  ib. ;  Tibe- 
tan, 287  sq.;  Toda,  290  sq. ;  of 
the  Siah  Posh  Kafirs,  293  sq. ; 
in  the  Hesiodic  calendar,  298  sq. ; 
social  and  economic  aspects  of, 
302  sqq. 

Upavasatha,  observance  of  the,  in 
ancient  India,  149  sqq.,  156. 

Uposatha,  the  Buddhist  Sabbath, 
155  sqq. ;  diffusion  of  the,  in  south- 
eastern Asia,  158  sqq. 

Ur,  city  of,  239. 

Uraon  of  Bengal,  88  sq. 

Veblen,  Thorstein,  on  sacred  holidays, 

87  n.1 
Vedas,  the,  not  to  be  read  on  certain 

occasions,  152  sq. 

Venus,  the  planet,  205,  213,  214  n.1,  243. 
Vergil,  on  Roman  holy  days,  98;    his 

calendar  of  lucky  and  unlucky  days, 

299  n.2 

Vespasian,  Roman  emperor,  245. 
Vestalia,  Roman  festival  of  the,  92  n.t 

93  sq. 

Vey  of  Liberia,  199  «.5 
Victoria,  1 80. 

Village  gods,  Samoan,  19  and  n.1,  20. 
Fishaptatha,  166  n. 
Vishnu  Pur  ana,  the,  151  sq.,  152. 

Wa,  the  Wild,  57. 

Wachaga  of  German  East  Africa,  107, 

209. 
Wagiriama    of    British     East    Africa, 

107  and  n.2,  136  and  n?,  189  sq.,  209. 
Wahuma.     See  Bahima. 


INDEX 


325 


Wakanda,  5. 

Wales,  unlucky  days  observed  in,  279. 
Wanika  of  British  East  Africa,  107. 
Wan  phra,  the  Siamese  Sabbath,  161  sq. 
Warfare  not  engaged  in  during  a  tabooed 

or   unlucky   period,   21,   22,   33,   34, 

80,  81,   132,   133  and  n.3,   137,   171, 

209,  303. 

Wasania  of  British  East  Africa,  134,  209. 
Wednesday,  an  unlucky  day,  92  «. 
Weekdays,  names  of  the,  in  Java,  105  ; 

in   Africa,    109,    in,    112,    113    ft.6, 

115  ft.2;    in  New  Zealand,   188  n.1; 
of  the  planetary  sequence,  219;    in 
European  languages,  221  sq. ;   among 
the  early  Christians,  267  and  n.3 

Weeks,  three-day,  103  sq.,  105,  107, 
108,  no,  119  and  n.3;  four-day, 
105,  106  sq.,  108,  109  sq.,  ill  sq., 

114  and  n.2,   116  n.1,  119  ft.3;    five- 
day,    103,    104,    105    sq.,    108,    no, 
112   ft.1,    113    and  n.6,    114  and  n?, 

116  ft.1,    118   sq.,    165   n.1,    187   and 
n?,   194  sqq. ;    six-day,   114  and  ft.2, 

115  ft.,    116    n.1,    194;     seven-day, 
104  and  n.4,   105,   115   sqq.,   I2O  n.1, 
122,  1 80,  187  and  «.2,  189,  194  n.1, 
196  sq.,   197  sqq.,   199  ft.6,   215  sqq., 
224    sq.,    227    J??.,    253    sqq.,    267; 
eight-day,  106,  109,  no,  in,  112  n.1, 
119  n.3,  120  j-00.,  193  sq. ;    nine-day, 

116  ft.1,  192,  193   and  tt.2;    ten-day, 
no,     119    sq.,     1 88    j^.     See    also 
Lunar  weeks  aw</  Market  weeks. 


Wellhausen,  Julius,  82  ft.2,  252. 

Westermarck,  Edward,  259. 

White,    the    colour    appropriate     for 

sacred  days  observed  on  the  Gold 

Coast,  112  and  n.2 
Winckler,    Hugo,    on    the    khamushtu, 

195  «-2 

Women,  restrictions  on,  during  a 
tabooed  or  unlucky  period,  15,  22, 
41,  78,  83,  89,  115  n.4,  194. 

Ya,  the  Arakanese  term  for  rest  day,  55. 

Yabim  of  German  New  Guinea,  57  ft.1 

Yakut  of  Siberia,  74. 

Yap,  island  of,  24  sq.,  189. 

Year,  the  lunar,  13  ft.2,  82  ft.2,  174, 
175,  176  sqq.,  226,  247  n.2;  be- 
ginning of  the  new,  75 ;  the  solar, 
82  n.2,  1 66,  174,  177  sq.,  247  «.*, 
279  sqq. 

Yoruba-speaking  peoples  of  the  Slave 
Coast,  tabooed  days  observed  by  the, 
77  sq.,  112,  113  sq. ;  their  lunar 
weeks,  187  and  ft.2 

Yucatan,  174,  280  sq. 

Yuchi  Indians,  the,  101  ft.1 

Yukaghir  of  Siberia,  201  ft.4 

Zagmuk,  Babylonian  festival  of,  276  n.2 
Zimmern,  H.,  237,  238  ft.4,  252  ft.6 
Zulu  of  British   South  Africa,  67  sq., 

137.  144- 
Zufii  Indians  of  New  Mexico,  190  and 

ft.6,  211  ft.1 


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